“At the show’s Web site, average Americans (or ‘folks,’ as one always wants to call them after an election season) upload video clips of themselves asking questions. In the studio, standing on a six-spoked set paying homage to the home game, three pleasant contestants attempt to answer them.”
Tag: 11.11.08
Botero Scrutinized For Tax Evasion In Italy
“Colombian painter and sculptor Fernando Botero is being investigated on suspicion of tax evasion, Italian authorities said Tuesday.
How The Economic Crisis Is Changing Housing Design
Prosperous baby-boomers snapped up huge McMansions because they saw a house as an investment vehicle. But now the mortgage crash, rising commodity prices and high energy costs are causing a revival of smaller houses and such low-tech energy-saving features as porches, awnings and vine-covered walls.
Colorado Ballet Names New Executive Director
Jack Lemmon, a widely-experienced dance administrator who has managed the Louisville Ballet, Tulsa Ballet, Ballet Idaho and the Joffrey Ballet, takes the reins of the recently stabilized Denver company as of Jan. 1.
Toronto Museums Place Their Bets On Higher Attendance
“Like Toronto’s Royal Ontario Museum,” the newly refurbished Art Gallery of Ontario, which reopens Friday, “has built the business plan for expanded premises around the assumption that more people will pay more money to see more art and artifacts. And, like the ROM, it remains bullish about the prospects of increased attendance and revenue from a higher ticket price despite a looming recession.”
Laramie Project Plans To Counter Protesters With Rally
“News that U.S. anti-gay campaigner Fred Phelps is encouraging followers from his Westboro Baptist Church to travel to Vancouver to protest against a production of The Laramie Project, has met with outrage. In response, a cast member of Fighting Chance Productions set up a Facebook page … and within 36 hours had 1,200 members interested in a counter-rally.”
Ward & June Would Be So Proud: Their Boy At The Louvre!
“Eat your heart out, Eddie Haskell. Tony Dow, best known as the actor who portrayed The Beav’s big brother, Wally, in the ’50s TV series ‘Leave It to Beaver,’ will have one of his abstract sculptures on display at the Louvre.”
On The Tricky Timing Of This Week’s Art Auctions
“This week, the auction houses Christie’s and Sotheby’s will attempt to sell works by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Francis Bacon and Andy Warhol, along with Roy Lichtenstein and Mark Rothko.” Sarah Thornton, author of “Seven Days in the Art World,” explains who won’t be bidding in this hideous economy, as well as why owners might be hanging on to their art for emotional reasons right now.
Michael Crichton, Public Intellectual
“Mr. Crichton was fundamentally a novelist of ideas — a public intellectual who wrote potboilers. He took on big subjects, such as bioengineering and climate change. He wasn’t afraid of slowing down the action to teach a scientific concept. When he wanted his readers to understand something, he would devote a couple of paragraphs to explaining it.”
Arts Group Sues Milwaukee Over Naked Boys
“A gay arts group has sued the city of Milwaukee in federal court for violating its free speech rights three years ago when officials shut down a musical revue featuring nudity. The city temporarily shut down performances of ‘Naked Boys Singing!’ in August 2005 while it considered the Milwaukee Gay Arts Center’s application for a theater permit. The group later received a permit and reopened the show.”