“A Honolulu businessman’s plan to take an expedition to Mount Ararat in search of Noah’s Ark ended this week when the Turkish government refused to permit it because of security concerns about the area, which borders Iran and is 150 miles from Iraq.”
Tag: 09.03.04
Non-Profits Wait As Congress Mulls Oversight Changes
The US Congress is considering serious reform in the oversight of non-profit organizations. “The overall drive to nonprofit reform began after the passage of the federal Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which Congress enacted in the wake of Enron and other accounting scandals. After revelations that a small number of charities, such as those handling the millions received after Sept. 11, 2001, had engaged in similar abuses and administrative waste, the drive quickly intensified.”
Pushing The “Reality” Of Serious
“More than ever this summer, television, with its headlong pursuit of “reality,” has influenced the tone and content of serious films. From the unusual spate of commercial documentaries, to domestic dramas that reflect the shrinking realm of personal privacy, smaller films are continuing to push the frontiers of psychological realism and sexual candor.”
Coming Soon: Operas About Gadhafi And Bill Gates
“With many opera companies facing stagnating ticket sales and aging audiences, composers and producers are turning to contemporary conflicts and headline news in a bid to lure new crowds. A new batch of contemporary operas — from rappers rhyming about Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi to an experimental musical about Microsoft boss Bill Gates — sets out to change that stuffy image.”
Cincinnati Orchestra Contract Talks
The Cincinnati Symphony is racing to negotiate a new contract with its musicians. “The talks are among the most difficult in memory because of the symphony’s $1.8 million budget deficit over the last two years. An anonymous gift wiped out that deficit, but the orchestra is facing increased pressure to balance the budget this season.”
Slovakia: A Culture Minister Who Gets It
Slovakia’s culture minister proposes that the country triple its spending on the arts by 2010. “Ignorance of culture is colossal; society is commercial, consumer-oriented and kitschy, and it seems this trend cannot be stopped.”
Fire Damages Famous German Library
A fire ravaged one of Germany’s most famous libraries thursday – Weimar’s Duchess Anna Amalia Library. “The library was opened in 1691 and housed the world’s largest collection of Faust by Johann Wolfgang Goethe, who had lived in Weimer.”
Australia’s New Culture Wars
The Australian government has decided to focus on funding classical music this year. But the official opposition party denounces the policy, decrying what it terms the Government’s “war on culture, citing alleged political appointments to the boards of the ABC and Canberra’s new national museum.”
Ireland’s Abbey Lays Off Staff
Ireland’s Abbey Theatre, the country’s national theatre, is laying off a third of its staff. “The managing director of the Abbey, Brian Jackson, today said that the theatre cannot go on losing in the region of €800,000 a year, and that the company has taken steps to address what he has termed fundamental structural issues.”
Do Movies Need A New Ratings System?
Some critics are complaining about the current movie rating system. “To better help parents monitor an expanding universe of media, some observers are calling for a uniform rating system that covers everything: movies, TV, and videogames. Others suggest changes to the current ratings, such as an R-13 category or even an A for adult movies that aren’t pornographic, as a way to address the problematic rating at the center of the debate.”