The Tehran Symphony Orchestra is performing in Germany. “Western music of all types has an uncertain status under the Islamic government. It was officially banned in October by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, but state-run radio and television still broadcast it. Classical music can be heard accompanying Iranian TV and radio programs, and Iranian television recorded Sunday’s concert in Osnabrueck.” Still, the orchestra has to make some adjustments…
Tag: 08.22.06
Hollywood – A Better Summer Than Last
Movie box office revenues are expected to be up 7 percent over last summer, generating $3.9 billion. “Ticket revenues for 2005’s summer were $3.6 billion, which was down 8.5 percent from summer 2004’s record $3.95 billion, making it the worst box-office showing in four years. Attendance, the number of people buying tickets, for summer 2006 is estimated at just over 582 million, up nearly four percent from last year’s 564 million, which was off a whopping 11 percent from the previous year.”
Quinn To Be New Actors Union Director
Patrick Quinn, president of Actors’ Equity Association, has been named executive director of the union. “Quinn is a longtime working actor with 10 Broadway credits. He has also been a union insider for almost 30 years — he was elected to the Equity Council in 1977.”
UK Takes Up Digital TV
The UK is on pace to lead the world in adopting digital TV. “Around 95% of UK households will have digital TV, compared to 66% in the US and 50% in Germany, according to market analyst Datamonitor.”
Wanted: A Different Kind Of Museum
“Whether it’s people of color, young children, people of faith, or other affinity groups, they usually come once for the exhibition that speaks directly to them and then they leave. This experience suggests that the concept of the encyclopedic mega-museum as the best repository for all masterpieces of all cultures is, at best, debatable. The lesson of the Musée Quai Branly in Paris is that we also need smaller “niche” museums that appeal to particular cultural constituencies—those who often feel marginalized in, or intimidated by, the grand art palaces where the great masterpieces of Western European and/or American art usually have pride of place.”
Hitchens: Calling Grass On His Cynical Confession
Gunther Grass is a fake, writes Christopher Hitchens. “Grass’ many defenders have not asked themselves the question that needs to be posed, which is: Has he at last decided to appeal to the new German readership that is, so to say, a bit fed up with hearing about how dreadful the Nazis were? If this admittedly rather cynical suggestion has any merit, then at least his recent boring writings and operatic confessions would, in combination, make perfect sense. But they would also make absolute nonsense of his previous career as a literary policeman and a patroller of the line of taboo.”
World Trade Center Museum Finding Its Way
“The small staff of the World Trade Center Memorial Museum faces a few challenges as it prepares to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the terror attacks of September 11, 2001. The museum has no gallery space and little storage area. It has barely even started collecting. Still, it has a public mission to help Americans remember. ‘We have this conundrum — we are not a museum yet, but we have to start acting like one,’ the chief curator, Jan Ramirez, said.” So, “this week, the museum will open its first exhibition: a series of largescale photographs that will be installed on the chain-link fence on east side of the World Trade Center site.”
Quill Awards Nominees
“Stephen King, Doris Kearns Goodwin and former Vice President Al Gore were among the nominees announced Tuesday for the second annual Quills Awards — people’s choice prizes trying to catch on with the public. Publishers have complained that readers showed little interest in last year’s awards and that the Quills had no discernible affect on sales.”
When Architecture Is Bridled By Anxiety
“To appreciate how America has changed since 9/11, walk slowly through any major city. What you’ll see dotting the landscape is the physical embodiment of fear. Security installations put up after the attacks continue to block public access and wrangle pedestrian traffic. … It’s not just the barriers, it’s also the buildings. Since 9/11, risk consultants working for police departments, federal agencies and insurance companies have wrested control over many new construction plans. ‘There’s a sense that security experts are acting as the associate architects on every project built today,’ says Paul Goldberger, the architecture critic of the New Yorker.”
Musicians Losing Out With Airline Restrictions
The Musicians Union says musicians are suffering because of airline travel restrictions restricting instruments from being carried on. “It says its members ‘are reporting significant lost earnings’ because they are unable to take their instruments on board aircraft as hand luggage. Many instruments are too fragile to be placed in the hold of an airliner, the union told the BBC News website.”