“Instead of constructing personal micro-economies that allow us to make sense of complexity, we are turning media into a mirror that reflects our own prejudices back at us. Even worse, services like Google and Facebook distort the mirror so that it exaggerates our grosser characteristics.”
Tag: 08.30.11
Orchestras On The Block (The Chopping Kind, That Is…)
“Because these are all big issues with no easy solutions (and solutions will, by definition, vary from community to community), the inertia of large organizations tends to set in: Most orchestras are just trying to hold on, with another spiffy marketing campaign or another plea to their big donors to bail them out.”
Women Writers And Directors Are Getting Ahead – In Iranian Filmmaking
“Some of the most high-profile movies about Iran in the past few years have all been directed or co-directed by women, including Shirin Neshat’s video-art shorts and feature Women Without Men, and Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud’s Persepolis. And the Iranian New Wave that’s livened up world cinema over the past 20 years has been notable for a string of strong feminist films, some of them directed by men.”
Amazon’s New Tablet (If It Actually Exists) Could Outdo iPad, Say Analysts
Wall Street firm Forrester Research has released a report saying that, if priced under $300 and supplies are sufficient, an Amazon iPad-style e-reader could sell 3 million to 5 million units just by the end of this year. Amazon has not confirmed that it is even developing such a product.
Pride And Prejudice And Zombies Movie Will Be ‘Incredibly True To Austen’
Director Craig Gillespie (Lars and the Real Girl) says his film is “staying incredibly true to Jane Austen and the humor that you get from Jane Austen and the dynamic of this society and the humor and insight that comes from the situations that she wrote about. And then you also get the horror of zombies.”
Is Anger A Motivator Of Creativity?
“At first glance, this cultivation of anger and criticism seems like a terrible idea. We assume that group collaboration requires niceties and affirmation, that we should always accentuate the positive. But maybe this is a big mistake.”
Big Changes (And Adventure) Expected For Salzburg Festival’s Next Incarnation
In October, Alexander Pereira, currently director of the Zurich Opera House, becomes artistic director. Patrons foresee changes on a magnitude not seen since the decade of Gérard Mortier, who succeeded the conductor Herbert von Karajan
The Art Of Cash – Collector Buys $20,000 Cash For $21,350
“As the opening lot of the Deutscher and Hackett auction, a single wad of $20,000 cash – an artwork called Currency – was sold for $17,500. When the 22 per cent buyer’s premium is added, the total cost comes to $21,350.”
Who Says MTV’s Days Are Past? Network Breaks Its Record For Most Viewers Ever
The two-hour Video Music Awards “telecast — which featured Lady Gaga dressed as her male alter ego, many camera shots of a bored-looking Justin Bieber, and Beyonce upstaging everything by announcing her pregnancy during the pre-show — nabbed 12.4 million viewers,MTV’s largest audience ever.”
Irene Causes Disastrous Week For Broadway Theatre
Total attendance for the week was also naturally lower, with 130,853 people attending all 23 musicals and plays versus last week’s total of 217,661. The biggest casualties of Irene were “The Lion King,” which dropped almost $710,000 from the week before, and “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark,” which had revenues fall by about $634,000. Both could offer only five performances.