“Album sales for 2007 are now down 15.3% for the year, compared with 2006. But for the four weeks beginning with Thanksgiving week and ending December 26, U.S. album sales were down 20% to 84.2 million units from 105.3 million a year ago.”
Tag: 12.28.07
In New Orleans – Volunteer Architecture
“In the wake of Katrina, nonprofits like Architecture for Humanity are jumping into the breach. The need is all the more urgent as misguided plans to raze 4,500 New Orleans apartments took a further step forward last week with a supporting vote from the City Council.”
Smithsonian’s Richard West’s Travel Spending Questioned
“The founding director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian spent more than $250,000 in institution funds over the past four years on first-class transportation and plush lodging in hotels around the world, including more than a dozen trips to Paris.”
This Ought To Be Funny (Or, Um, Not)
All your favorite late-night TV hosts will be back next week, but you may not recognize their shows. “The late-night hosts, all of whom are WGA members, have agreed to respect work rules set down by the union. That means, in essence, they can’t write material that their striking writing staffs would have produced for them.”
Apple, Fox Teaming Up For Online Rentals
“Apple Inc and Twentieth Century Fox are set to announce a deal that will allow consumers to rent Fox movies through Apple’s digital iTunes Store.” The partnership could mean big trouble for rent-by-mail services Netflix and Blockbuster.
Why Johnny Can’t Write
It’s taken as fact at colleges and universities across America: students just can’t write as well as they used to, and the problem has become so widespread that some schools are requiring students to take courses in proper writing. But do these courses actually work?
University Presses Banding Together
“Five university presses have announced a collaboration that seeks to find a way to reduce costs of scholarly publishing and to allow more books to be released… The new system is expected to yield enough savings to allow each of the presses to increase output by five books a year.”
It’s An Online World, And 45% Of Us Are Living In It
“About 38 percent of U.S. consumers are watching TV shows online, 36 percent use their cell phones as entertainment devices and 45 percent are creating online content like Web sites, music, videos and blogs for others, according to a new-media survey…”
Great Film Crop Shows The Value Of Great Scripts
“In a sense, the writers strike couldn’t have come at a more opportune time, because it is a painful reminder of what we lose when there are no writers… [This] fall saw what is arguably the best year in American film since the late ’70s.”
Oscar Voting Begins
Oscar ballots have been mailed, heralding the official start of awards season in Hollywood. Nominees will be announced on January 22, with the Academy Awards telecast scheduled for February 24.