The artist/activist writes, “[In] the long run, [China’s] leaders must understand it’s not possible for them to control the Internet unless they shut it off – and they can’t live with the consequences of that. The Internet is uncontrollable. And if the Internet is uncontrollable, freedom will win. It’s as simple as that.”
Month: April 2012
Ai Weiwei Sues Beijing’s Tax Bureau
“Chinese artist and government critic Ai Weiwei said Friday he was suing Beijing’s tax bureau for violating the law when it imposed a multi-million tax evasion fine on a company he founded.” (That company’s name: Beijing Fake Cultural Development Ltd.)
Dancers’ Union Challenges Dance Theater Of Harlem
“The American Guild of Musical Artists, which represents dancers in the United States, has filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board, alleging that the Dance Theatre of Harlem is refusing to recognize the union and will not renegotiate the dancers’ previous contract.”
Proto-Faxes – When Radio Really Might Have Killed Newspapers
“The introduction of broadcast radio caused some in the newspaper industry to fear that newspapers would soon become a thing of the past. After all, who would read the news when you could just turn on the radio for real-time updates? Newspapers had even more to fear in 1938 when radio thought it might compete with them in the deadtree business as well.”
Nostalgia On Schedule: ‘The Golden Forty-Year Rule’
“So it seems time to pronounce a rule about American popular culture: the Golden Forty-Year Rule. The prime site of nostalgia is always whatever happened, or is thought to have happened, in the decade between forty and fifty years past. (And the particular force of nostalgia, one should bear in mind, is not simply that it is a good setting for a story but that it is a good setting for you.)”
What City Is The Musical Tastemaker For America’s Social-Networking Generation? (It’s Not NY Or LA)
“If you want to know what the cool kids will be listening to next month, here are two hints: 1) Head to Atlanta. 2) It’s probably hip hop. That’s according to a recently posted arXiv paper mapping the geographic flow of music on the social-networking music site Last.fm.)” Also at the top: Montreal, Chicago and Toronto.
What’s The Fastest Language? Well, In Sounds, Or In Content?
In a study of seven major tongues, Spanish and Japanese were found to have the greatest number of syllables per second, with Mandarin the slowest and English in the middle. But most of the languages conveyed information at about the same rate. (You want fast? Try Malayalam.)
Ailey II Artistic Director Sylvia Waters Steps Down
“This season, after 38 years on the job, Ms. Waters will step down as artistic director of Ailey II, the second company of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, where her main triumph has been to cultivate dancers and nurture their inner stars. Ms. Waters’s track record of spotting talent is astounding; at the moment, 65 percent of the main company comes from Ailey II.”
Italian Cinema’s Anti-Berlusconi, Laura Morante
“One of the country’s most famous actresses, Morante, who could be described as a kind of Italian Catherine Deneuve, … is hoping to exploit the changing times in her country by playing her own part in promoting a different, more powerful role for women in cinema” after 20 years of media mogul Berlusconi’s bunga-bunga aesthetic (if that’s the word).
Can Non-Christians Fully Appreciate Bach’s St. Matthew Passion? (A Muslim Wonders)
Recently journalist and editor Sameer Rahim asked a priest acquaintance about Bach’s oratorio, and was told that “I should listen to it once a year on Good Friday as part of a church service. Any other time or setting would not be true to the composer’s Christian vision.” So he tried it that way …