Rome’s ancient monuments are crumbling, and as best anyone can tell, the Italian government isn’t doing a thing about it. “Everyone has heard of sinking Venice, but only a restricted circle of academics wring their hands over crumbling Rome. Yet, for lack of funds, the city’s ancient centre is inexorably deteriorating.” Recent torrential rains have brought the situation to a head, with experts fearing the worst if something isn’t done to stabilize the monuments soon.
Month: July 2006
PBS Ready To Stand And Fight
Tim Goodman says it’s good to hear the new head of PBS lashing out at the FCC’s aggressive anti-obscenity rules. “What’s most important is that, by her words, she indicated that PBS would no longer be a wallflower in the culture wars… The FCC has continued to strike fear in the television industry, and none darker nor deeper than into the heart of PBS.”
Canada’s Next Legendary Architect
“This June, after winning two U.S. prizes, Bruce Kuwabara received the prestigious Royal Architectural Institute of Canada gold medal at age 57, becoming the first of his generation to join the ranks of Jack Diamond, Arthur Erickson and Moshe Safdie… Kuwabara has made it his challenge to build harmonies in the cacophonous cityscape, but his interests are now moving in new directions. [Lately,] he has been reconsidering Toronto’s peculiar challenges.”
Racial Taunts Haunting Famed Pianist
Famed jazz pianist Oscar Peterson says that he and his family are being subjected to regular racial taunts and slurs near their home in a Toronto suburb. “Mr. Peterson, who was born in Montreal, has spent more than 50 years as an international jazz star, and has been honoured with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, an International Jazz Hall of Fame Award and entry into several halls of fame. In addition to being put on a stamp, Canada made him a companion of the Order of Canada, the country’s highest civilian achievement. After living here for most of his life, Mr. Peterson said the past month’s experience has left him seriously considering moving to the West Indies.”
Getting Current
“Just before Al Gore launched Current TV a year ago, there were more than a few guffaws heard throughout the industry. The idea of a young adult cable channel consisting of viewer-created video ‘pods’ and interactive ads seemed like a joke. Nobody’s laughing anymore… In the year since the 24-hour network premiered on Aug. 1, 2005, Current TV is seeing its model readily duplicated by such major cable players as MTV and VH1, and soon, the newly formed CW broadcast network.”
Legendary Chicago Jazz Club Back In Business
The Velvet Lounge, a Chicago jazz club that closed last year to make way for a condo building, has reopened in a new location around the corner, and jazz fans in the Second City couldn’t be happier. “the new Velvet conveys a mood and sensibility of its own and, as such, instantly emerges as one of the most appealing jazz rooms in the city.”
Do DVRs Really Make You Watch More TV?
The introduction of digital video recorders (DVRs) into the American television landscape may have advertisers running scared, but those who produce actual programs have long assumed that the ability to automatically record dozens of programs and watch them later would lead to Americans spending more time in front of their sets. But at least one new survey suggests that viewers with DVRs actually watch less TV than those without.
Wagner’s House
Great performances of Wagner’s music can be found all over the world these days. Furthermore, the famed Wagner Festival at Bayreuth, Germany, has been frequently marred by familial strife and controversy in recent years. And yet, still, Bayreuth is arguably the toughest ticket in classical music, with a waiting list of seven years to buy a seat. So what is it about Bayreuth? The performance space certainly has something to do with it: “Wagner’s opera house, the Theater on the Green Hill, as it has long been called, is truly one of the glories of the opera world.”
Beirut Arts Scene A Casualty Of Israeli Offensive
Lost in the controversy over the latest flare-up in the Middle East is the destruction that is being rained down on Lebanon’s burgeoning cultural scene. “What was supposed to be Beirut’s first break after last year’s traumas — including the assassination of Rafik Hariri, the former prime minister — has been shattered… Beyond the ruins and the rowdy image, Lebanon’s artistic expression, after years of neglect, was also blooming.”
In Healthier Dance World, Are Drugs Still A Danger?
“In American dance a new athleticism has joined artistry at center stage. At the same time performing-arts medicine has matured, and its practitioners now recognize dancers as not only creative artists but also as world-class athletes whose art form seems to demand greater challenges each season. But as dancers jump higher, spin faster and try to stay impossibly thin, might they, like baseball stars and Olympic sprinters, be susceptible to new drug regimens? Performance-enhancing drugs, no longer the realm of musclemen, could also have applications for dancers.”