A Seattle community demands to know why the popular director of a cultural arts center has been placed on administrative leave…
Tag: 12.06.07
The Daily News As Fiction
“The suggestion that journalism has become more like fiction is a pretty ancient insult but, in the past, was used to accuse reporters of fabrication. Now, though, something deeper and weirder frequently occurs in which, even when facts are accurately reported, they seem, in the proper sense of the word, fabulous.”
The Christmas Bestseller Phenomenon
“The fact is that regardless of what the title actually is, the Christmas compendium of facts, useful or not, is the kind of book that you buy for someone because it’s trendy and because you don’t know or like them or feel obliged to buy them something – someone whose relationship to you ends with ‘in-law’, or that weird colleague you pull out of the Secret Santa draw.”
An Ancient Lascaux-era Cave In UK?
“Under the fields and woodlands of Britain, a painted cave as great as the ice age art treasures of Chauvet and Lascaux may be waiting to be discovered. This claim will be made by a museum this week, for the first time, when a new archaeology gallery opens at the National Museum of Wales.”
Why Michelangelo Doesn’t Move Us
Michelangelo is certainly famous, but “somehow, you don’t come across that many passionate, let alone perceptive, responses to him. There’s a sense that he’s famous just for being famous, and the reason why he is so eminent eludes us.”
Dia Sells Its Chelsea Building
According to NYC real estate transaction records, the Dia Art Foundation has sold its Chelsea exhibition space in November for $38.55 million.
A Massive Tear-Down In New Orleans
“The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD, last week approved $31 million worth of contracts to demolish 4,500 public housing units of such high quality that some are on the National Register of Historic Places. These aren’t forbidding tower fortresses but appealing, three-story garden apartments. Most were built in the 1930s and 1940s, when subsidized rental housing was deemed a worthy endeavor and sheltered working families.”
NY City Opera Out Of Lincoln Center For A Year?
The New York City Opera may lose its home at the State Theater for the 2008-09 season to allow for reconstruction, then return to the Lincoln Center venue for the start of Gerard Mortier’s regime.
Musicologist H. Wiley Hitchcock, 84
The eminent musicologist, author, teacher, editor and scholar of American as well as baroque music, died Dec. 5 after a long battle with cancer.
Why Science Fiction Gets No Respect (And Why It Should)
Science fiction is “the necessary literary companion to science. How could fiction avoid considering possible futures in a world of perpetual innovation? Which is why this widely despised genre should be read now more than ever. Unfortunately this does not seem to be a great time for the production, never mind the reception, of SF.