Tag: 09.24.03

Kushner: Of Art And Politics

Playwright Tony Kushner on the responsibility of artists in challenging time: “You can’t find any important work of American art, in theater or anywhere else, that doesn’t have a very powerful political dimension. [But] whatever you do with your day job—and writing plays is what I do—is no replacement for activism, which is a necessary part of being a citizen in a democracy.”

Downsizing The “World’s Largest Lawn-Care Service”

The Bush administration is trying to downsize the federal park service with a plan to outsource many of its services. “Two years ago, the Park Service became a prime target for privatizing some civil- service jobs after the president’s former OMB director, Mitch Daniels, referred to it as ‘the world’s largest lawn-care service.’ In addition to riling agency defenders, Daniels’ characterization has rankled historians, archaeologists, maintenance workers, and rangers who could be supplanted.”

Deficit in Dairyland

“The Milwaukee Ballet reported an operating deficit of $156,000 for 2003-’04 at its annual meeting Wednesday. The loss follows five consecutive years in the black for the company, which posted earned and contributed income of nearly $5 million.” Employee turnover, and a slump in sales for the holiday juggernaut The Nutcracker are being blamed for the shortfall.

Recording Industry Withdraws Lawsuit Against Grandparents

The recording industry has withdrawn a suit filed against granparents who say they’ve never downloaded music. “They use a Macintosh, which cannot even run the Kazaa file-sharing service they are accused of using illegally’. “This is what happens when you sweep away all the due process protections and all the privacy protections. Those are the kinds of things that would stop this before it gets to the stage where you sue some nice old lady who did nothing wrong.”

Are High Ticket Prices Killing The West End?

The leader of a regional theatre in Leeds charges that high ticket prices are killing creativity in London’s West End. But defenders claim that London prices are “still relatively cheap compared with Broadway, where seats sell for more than £70. Last year 12 million went to West End shows – a record. Top-priced tickets [between £40 and £50] are always the first to sell.”

Who Writes The Better Farce?

“Farce, like cricket, comes in two forms: English and French. One is an exercise in connoisseurship, distinguished by its practitioners and ennobled by tradition; the other a jolly knockabout enjoyed by amateurs. Although the two traditions developed side by side, many people acknowledge that the English play real cricket, while the French write real farce.”

Harry Potter For Adults

“Having conquered the children’s market, Scholastic Inc., the U.S. publisher of J.K. Rowling’s multimillion-selling series, is targeting adults, ages 18 to 35. Potter ads featuring bikers, skateboarders and couch potatoes will appear in Rolling Stone and other magazines throughout October. ‘We felt we needed to think out of the box and reach out to readers who would not normally pick up a copy of Harry Potter unless somebody placed it in their hands’.”

What’s A Language Without Snollygoster?

The new Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary is out, and it includes 10,000 new words. But there were many words that had to be taken out to make room. “Among these ghost words, the most unjustly cashiered may well be “snollygoster.” A snollygoster is . . . a snollygoster is . . . actually, without a previous edition of Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary handy, there’s no telling anymore what a snollygoster is. Luckily — and here’s a phrase that must give every last lexicographer at Merriam-Webster the fantods – – that’s what Google’s for.”