“You’ve sensed that your pop stars are bit more likeable than usual, your Hollywood hunks seem more polite and your hipster literary icons more self-deprecating. Don’t panic. Just let the Canadian cultural invasion take you in, caress you with its be-mittened hands, and soothe you as it sings…”
Tag: 11.08.12
NAACP Opposes Change In Online Music Royalties Rates
“It already has been opposed by music industry groups, as well as by the A.F.L.-C.I.O. But the N.A.A.C.P. letter, dated last Friday and publicized by a music industry coalition on Thursday, adds new pressure, portraying the issue not just as a business dispute, but as a civil rights matter.”
Minnesota Orchestra Cancels Concerts Through End Of 2012
“The dispute between musicians and the board of the Minnesota Orchestra deepened Thursday as the orchestra canceled all concerts through the end of the year. The 21 canceled shows include holiday and pops concerts that routinely draw large crowds and produce sizable revenues.”
Are Musicians Beginning To Flee Twin Cities’ Locked-Out Orchestras?
“Locked-out musicians at the Minnesota and St. Paul Chamber Orchestras have been warning of a dangerous decline in artistic quality if they accept new contracts sought by management. They say the severe cuts in salary and benefits will force many musicians to seek employment elsewhere. We hear from two of them who have already made that decision.”
Meet Egypt’s Great Farmer-Poet, At Home In The Village
“Sequestered from the big city, [Abdel-Rahman] Elabnoudy, a songwriter, dramatist, social critic and … one of the Arab world’s best-known vernacular poets, … lives in a whitewashed home on small plot of land planted with mangoes and date palms.”
Corsican Novel Wins Prix Goncourt
“France’s top literary award, the Goncourt prize, went to Jérôme Ferrari for The Sermon on the Fall of Rome, a story of a young idealist whose dreams of finding a haven in Corsica are dashed by the island’s notorious corruption and violence.”
Goncourt Academy Adds New Prize For Middle-Eastern Literature
Le Choix de l’Orient, selected from Prix Goncourt semifinalists by a jury of francophone university students from six Arab countries, went to French author Mathias Enard for Rue des Voleurs (“Street of Thieves”), the story of a Tangiers teenager who gets caught up in the Arab Spring.
Growing Pittsburgh Ballet Buys Itself A Building
“Growth is the buzz word at Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre these days. The company announced Wednesday that it acquired 10,800 square feet of space … in the Strip District as part of a four-phase plan to grow Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School’s enrollment and engagement with the community.”
When Sarkozy Publicly Dissed A French Classic – And Paid The Price
“Nicolas Sarkozy, as the French head of state and even before he ascended to the role, developed an odd habit of publicly bad-mouthing Madame de Lafayette’s 1678 work, The Princess of Clèves, one of the first modern French novels, which is obligatory reading in schools across the republic.” The backlash he suffered dwarfed any reaction Bush would have gotten for dissing The Scarlet Letter.
What Are We Doing On The Internet? The Latest Traffic Report Says…
“Netflix now accounts for 33 percent of peak residential downstream traffic in North America.”