Month: April 2005

When Cell Phones Become Your Entertainment Hub

Motorola is planning to sell a new phone that will act as your personal entertainment center. “The company plans to launch a service, dubbed iRadio, that allows the new phones to download songs and radio programming from an Internet- connected computer each day, then beam them to car stereos or home entertainment centers. The iRadio initiative reflects the intense interest that phone manufacturers, music companies and mobile network operators have in new music services for cellphones. Their appetites whetted by the multibillion-dollar global market for ring tones, they are eager to sink their teeth into song downloads, online jukeboxes and music videos — even though it’s not clear what, if anything, customers will buy.”

Cell Phones As An Instrument Of Art

“New public space art projects are using cellphones and other mobile devices to explore new ways of communicating while giving everyday people the chance to share some insights about real world locations. One art project, Yellow Arrow, based in New York City, has developed a system where people can place yellow stickers in the shape of arrows around the city, stating that they have something to say about that particular location. Each arrow, which is ideally placed in a location that holds significance to the person, has its own unique code that can be sent to a mobile phone via text messaging, allowing others to read the message that was left.”

Does Leonard Cohen Deserve A Nobel?

A campaign is being mounted to nominate Leonard Cohen for a Nobel Prize. “I surprised myself when I suddenly figured, in a sort of watershed moment, you know this guy actually does deserve the Nobel Prize. It’s the sort of wry, self-irony there. This man is an amazing poet. He’s not just a good poet; he’s an amazing poet. Cohen, whose first love is poetry, enjoyed later success as a recording star. A companion to the Order of Canada, Cohen had published two internationally acclaimed collections before the age of 30 and went on to write six more. ‘He’s a universal poet in a way that I can’t think of anybody since maybe Homer – in western tradition anyway. And Homer, by the way, was a singer too’.”

Art Institute – Taking A Whack At American Art History

Before the middle of the last century, American art lived in the shadow of Europe. Now the Art Institute of Chicago is attempting to tell the story of American art in a more completely historical way. “In what may well be the first time in the history of the museum, American paintings, sculptures and decorative arts occupy a sequence of beautifully installed galleries that clearly and exclusively unfolds about 250 years of American art history.”

Why Boulez Rules The World

Is it odd that Pierre Boulez has gone from being a subversive on the outside to a revered elder statesman? “His 80th birthday this year is being celebrated by Deutsche Grammophon with new recordings and reissues of his own works. He’s the only modernist, living or dead, whose music is widely available on a major label. Critics love that. Here he is, at the tippy-tippy top, and he hasn’t compromised. We will never see “The Pierre Boulez Tango Album.” We’re talking about a guy whose idea of slumming is hearing Richard Strauss’ symbolism-laden opera Die Frau ohne Schatten.”

Broadway – The Great Hitless Way

Broadway musicals used to crank out hits. No more. “Shows just aren’t giving us any new hit songs. Sure, you can hear top 40 hits along Broadway. But the songs were composed 20, 30 or 40 years ago, and they weren’t written for the theater. Instead, they’re shoehorned into shows like “Mamma Mia!” (ABBA), “Movin’ Out” (Billy Joel), “All Shook Up” (Elvis Presley) and “Good Vibrations” (the Beach Boys). Next up is “Lennon,” which opens in July.”

How Radio Will Reinvent Itself

The retiring manager of New York public radio station WBAI says radio is about to undergo big changes: “Internet radio is the future. I don’t mean traditional radio will disappear. But Internet radio can solve the biggest problem of a WBAI: that there isn’t enough airtime in a week to carry everything you want to carry. With the Internet, capacity is limitless. Once Internet radio becomes as accessible and easy to use as ‘regular radio,’ everything changes.”