People who value literature have often lamented the dominance of movies and television in today’s popular culture, fearing that such passive entertainment would eventually bury forever reading as an entertainment. But in the last few years, blockbuster movies such as Lord of the Rings and The Talented Mr. Ripley have sent moviegoers scurrying to bookstores in search of the titles that inspired the films. Publishers, naturally, love the trend.
Tag: 12.18.02
Piano Recitals – M.I.A.
Charles Michener laments the death of the piano recital. “For some time now, I have remarked on a development that, while less dramatic than the Bolsheviks’ overthrow of the Tsar, represents a considerable loss: the disappearance of the piano recital as a staple of New York’s concert scene. Among the world’s generous supply of first-class pianists, only a handful of the most famous ones are heard with anything like regularity in our major halls, and then generally not more than once a year. Piano competitions continue to turn out the next Horowitzes at an alarming rate, but how these prodigies manage to make careers is a mystery, given that virtually none of them are ever heard hereabouts.”
Gunning For A Virtual Oscar
You’ve likely never seen Andy Serkis, and you very likely won’t until the camera pans to show him as a nominee at the next Academy Awards. Serkis is the human actor behind the creepy voice and complex range of movement of the twisted and obsessive Gollum character in the second film of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, which you may have heard opens this week. The talk of a possible Oscar nod for Serkis is evidence of the growing seriousness with which virtual characters are being taken in Hollywood.
Playwrights’ Comp Cancelled In Baltimore
Baltimore television station WMAR is pulling the plug on a playwriting competition it has sponsored for the past two decades. The competition was organized by the Arena Players, which solicited scripts from black playwrights, and picked one each year to be rehearsed, performed, and broadcast on WMAR. Station officials cited lack of corporate sponsorship as the major reason for their pullout.
Scottish Museums Need Emergency Investments
The Scottish Museums Council says the country’s museums need £14 million to keep them viable. The council’s report stresses that “museums have suffered years of under-investment and called for ‘funding appropriate to 21st century Scotland’. Ultimately we’re talking about museums closing.”
The Universal Everything…
What if your radio could act as a cellphone one minute, a TV the next, and a PDA after that? “Imagine if the only thing stopping your handheld PDA from simultaneously being a GPS receiver, phone, radio or miniature TV was your willingness to download and install some free software program.” The GNU project is working towards the day…
Why Not Arts For Arts Sake?
So the Blair government threw a bunch of money at arts programs for children because it was proven that arts education cut crime. “At the bottom of the press release was a note saying that in areas where the scheme had been successful, burglary rates had fallen by up to 23 per cent.” Great. But why have to justify supporting arts education on social grounds? “Is it too far fetched to believe in a future where artists and performers of all sorts are a familiar and essential part of the school community?”
$120 Million To Americans For The Arts
Ruth Lilly has given $120 million to arts advocacy group Americans for the Arts. “Over the years, Ruth Lilly has been a generous supporter of the arts and education. At her death, according to the Indianapolis Star, half of her estimated $1 billion estate will go to the arts and various charities.”
NY Art Student Arrested For Placing Boxes In Subway
A New York art student was arrested last week after “placing 38 black boxes, bearing the word ‘fear’ in white lettering, around the Union Square station, a crucial hub where six lines intersect. The bomb squad was called in and the station was shut for five hours, causing a ripple effect of chaos on the network, as panicked commuters and transit workers feared a terrorist attack.”
Art Of Crime
“First things first. What an idiotic project. As the saying goes, art this bad ought to be a crime. So now it is left to hapless, fledgling art students, fresh from Michigan, to keep up the city’s gritty reputation for crime. At least New York can still take pride, as the nation’s cultural capital, that even our misdemeanors are works of art.”