“The prosecution’s investigation into the found that the museum had reduced the number of security guards from 30 to 9 and “most days the number was reduced so that there was only one guard in the museum. Only seven of 43 cameras were functioning and none of the alarms went off during the theft.”
Tag: 08.29.10
Culture Wars – What Would Plato Do?
“Could Plato, who wrote in the 4th century B.C., possibly have anything to say about today’s electronic media? As it turns out, yes, It is characteristic of philosophy that even its most abstruse and apparently irrelevant ideas, suitably interpreted, can sometimes acquire an unexpected immediacy.”
Will Beijing Opera Fall To History?
“The worry is that, like the city’s old neighborhoods, Beijing opera could fall victim to China’s rampant commercialism and modernization. If it did, it would be a bit like Italy consigning Verdi or Donizetti to a few small halls in Milan and Rome, or to those folkloric shows for tourists who mostly do not know much about what they are seeing.”
How Do You Define A Theatre Hit?
“If you use the standard measuring stick of the commercial theater – which is to say, whether it recouped the investment it took to bring it to the stage — then the reportedly $50 million musical could stay hot until next year’s Tony Awards and easily not qualify.”
British Museum Evacuated
“A few people reported a funny smell on the premises and had mild irritation to the throat and eyes. No treatment from paramedics was necessary and we do not know at this stage the cause of it.”
How Language Shapes The Way We Think
“In the last few years, new research has revealed that when we learn our mother tongue, we do after all acquire certain habits of thought that shape our experience in significant and often surprising ways.”
America’s British Invasion, Part II
“In terms of media and entertainment, America hasn’t felt this thoroughly permeated by products, characters, ideas and modes of behavior that originated across the Atlantic since the British Invasion of the 1960s. In short, we’re witnessing a distinctly British moment in American culture.”
Shareholders Pressure HMV To Sell UK Bookseller Waterstone’s
“Rebel shareholders have opened fire on music shops chain HMV over its management of Waterstone’s, Britain’s largest books retailer. Investors want HMV chief executive Simon Fox to sell the book business if a turnaround strategy unveiled in March fails to boost returns by this time in 2011.”
After Cable Dominance, Broadcast Networks Look To Have Big Emmy Night
“It looks to be a reassuring night for network-TV viewers, proof that over-the-air TV is in the midst of a golden age. Yes, there’s a lot of junk on the tube. But look how good it can get.”
How Opera Is Like Auto-Tune Is Like YouTube (Or Not)
“In some ways, the traffic in quick music clips on YouTube resembles the voraciousness of opera audiences two centuries ago. But the rapid dissemination of Auto-Tuned songs on YouTube is fundamentally different from opera in one important way.”