“The [MCASD] is eliminating eight full-time positions and 20 part-time positions in January. … The layoffs come in anticipation of the museum’s big expansion, which will quadruple the exhibition space of the La Jolla location to about 40,000 square feet.”
Tag: 08.22.16
Why Hollywood Thought Remaking ‘Ben-Hur’ Was Ever A Good Idea (And Why That Was Wrong)
“In 2004, Mel Gibson’s biblical film The Passion of the Christ hit theaters after a months-long, small-scale ad campaign that focused on church groups and evangelical leaders … After opening on Ash Wednesday, it became the highest-grossing R-rated film in history, earning $611 million worldwide.” The new Ben-Hur, on the other hand, “opened this weekend to a pitiful $11.4 million at the box office.”
Where Next For Olympic Athletes? For Some, It Will Be Cirque Du Soleil
“In all, about 40 percent of Cirque’s performers come from artistic, rhythmic and acrobatic gymnastics backgrounds, as well as from trampoline, tumbling, diving and synchronized swimming. At the moment, 21 Olympians – two of them medalists – perform in eight United States-based Cirque du Soleil shows.”
She Was The First Black Woman To Host A TV Talk Show, And You Can’t Watch Any Of It Anymore
Long before Oprah, Della Reese “was the first black woman to host her own syndicated talk show in the United States. This historic fact, though, has been reduced to a footnote in her biography for a simple, maddening reason.”
Now That Computers Make Stuff, Our Copyright Laws Don’t Really Work…
“Copyright is designed to encourage human creativity for human audiences. If a book falls in a forest and no one reads it, does it make an infringement? It seems like the only sensible answer is “No harm, no foul.” On the other hand, there’s something strange about a rule that tells technologists just to turn the robots loose. It encourages uses that don’t have much to do with human aesthetics while discouraging uses that do.”
It Had To Happen: An Orchestra Dedicated To Video Games
“Professional orchestras have toured the tunes of Zelda, Street Fighter and other video games across North America. But Quebec’s largest city is one of the few to have its own dedicated video-game orchestra made up of serious musicians whose passion puts them in front of sheet music for hours on end — not just TV screens.”
UK Study Of Arts Graduates: Two-Thirds Say Arts Degree Wasn’t Worth What They Paid
“Just 37% of respondents thought their degree was worth the fees they paid. Those working in the arts were found to have the lowest levels of employment, with 42% working full-time and 15% part time.”
What Drives People To Collect Art
“The best way to understand the underlying drive of art collecting is as a means to create and strengthen social bonds, and as a way for collectors to communicate information about themselves and the world within these new networks.”
That Time Rudolf Nureyev And Margot Fonteyn Were Arrested In A “Hippie Raid”
“Marijuana cigarettes were found at the scene,” noted the paper, although the two ballet dancers had to be released as there was no evidence that they had been smoking them. A high-spirited Nureyev had, however, performed a jeté into the back of a police van.
Sexist “Trolls” Protest Science Fiction Writing Awards
“Few in the speculative fiction community were surprised that the 2016 Hugo Award for Excellence in Science Fiction and Fantasy ballot was beleaguered for the second year in a row by a slate of trolls calling themselves the Sad Puppies, with their right-wing pals the Rabid Puppies in tow (seriously, these names).”