“An 800-word hand-written story by bestselling author J.K. Rowling, which she describes as a prequel to the Harry Potter boy wizard books, sold for 25,000 pounds ($49,000) at a charity auction on Tuesday.”
Month: June 2008
Antiquities Returned To Iraq
“A set of 11 agate and alabaster seals, which date from between 3,000 B.C. and 2,000 B.C., was returned after having been snatched during the widespread looting at the museum in 2003. The cylinder-shaped seals were turned over to Iraq’s antiquities ministry at a ceremony in Baghdad on Monday.”
SAG V. AFTRA
“With Hollywood on edge at the prospect of an actors strike, SAG’s negotiating committee has been accused of dragging its feet at the bargaining table in order to wage war against the American Federation of Television & Radio Artists.”
Art Students: Scholarships, Not Buildings
“Concerned that Art Center College of Design is putting too much money and energy into expanding its campus and promoting itself to outsiders — and not enough into scholarships and instruction — hundreds of students and alumni of the elite private college in Pasadena are petitioning its trustees to suspend plans for a $50-million building by Frank Gehry.”
Met Museum Narrows Its List Of Director Candidates
Each of the individuals whose names have been mentioned has both advantages and drawbacks as a future director for the Met.
So Where Are The Other Movies For Women?
“Is there a stampede to knock off other hit TV shows, figuring that TV is to women what comic books are to men? You would hope, given the success of ‘Sex and the City,’ people will remember there is a huge female audience out there, and, judging by these numbers, they’re clearly starved, for the most part.”
Trend: Fewer Women’s Colleges In US, More In Rest Of World
“U.S. women’s colleges have sometimes struggled to find a new role in the era of coeducation. As their numbers decline in the United States, women’s colleges are booming in much of the developing world _ places such as Africa, Asia and the Middle East. They’ve become a trendy tool for jump-starting economic growth and political development, and for helping break down barriers in the same way their U.S. counterparts have been doing since the 19th century.”
Twyla Tharp Attacks Dance
“Tharp, unlike so many choreographers who are most secure with a pas de deux or a solo, is a master (mistress?) of group dynamics: Everything’s a rush, a melee, a jumble, except that everything’s crystal clear. She’s not a mere traffic manager, though; things not only work out, they go somewhere.”
Deborah Voigt Returns To The Scene Of The Little Black Dress
“Though Ms. Voigt’s position as one of today’s leading dramatic sopranos is as solid as ever, there have been varied reactions to her singing since her surgery, especially the colorings of her voice. Some opera buffs and critics detect a slight loss of warmth in her sound. Others counter that her voice has gained brightness and shimmer.”
John S. Zinsser Jr., 84
“Zinsser was associate editor, executive editor and later editor in chief of Reader’s Digest Condensed Books from 1951 to 1987. The series, which began in 1950 and ran 47 years under that name, provided subscribers with three to six shortened best sellers in anthologies that were, at first, published four times a year, and later every other month. It is now known as Reader’s Digest Select Editions.”