Author: Douglas McLennan

DEMONSTRATION DANCE

Protestors will undoubtedly line the streets outside the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles next week. Surprisingly, a sizable number of them will be dancers – many of whom performed thematic “protest dances” in Seattle last December. “They just didn’t know what to think of us. I guess it’s pretty hard to arrest a dance company.” – LA Weekly

FREE ART

  • “Brooklyn-based historian, author and playwright Charles Mee believes that the greatest plays in human history – those by the ancient Greeks and Shakespeare – would never have been written had copyright laws existed to keep the authors from borrowing from the culture around them. Mee puts his money where his mouth is. He makes the texts of his plays freely available on the Web, and forgoes royalties.” – All Things Considered (NPR) [Real Audio file]

DIGISTAR

  • The leading actress in Al Pacino’s next movie is a computer digitization. “If modern film technology can conjure up dinosaurs, Jabba the Hutt and Bruce Willis with hair, then the substitution of actresses by fleshy cartoons, courtesy of a cheap-labour Korean animation factory, could only have been a matter of time.” – National Post (Canada)

FREE ART

  • “Brooklyn-based historian, author and playwright Charles Mee believes that the greatest plays in human history – those by the ancient Greeks and Shakespeare – would never have been written had copyright laws existed to keep the authors from borrowing from the culture around them. Mee puts his money where his mouth is. He makes the texts of his plays freely available on the Web, and forgoes royalties.” – All Things Considered (NPR) 08/17/00 [Real Audio file]

THE WHO’S TO BLAME GAME

Joe Lieberman gave his speech to the Democratic Party convention Wednesday and didn’t slam Hollywood. But he sent pal William Bennett to speak on a panel in his place across town. Bennett decried the “morass of sex and vulgarity promoted by Hollywood” and “reiterated that the entertainment industry is responsible for ‘the degradation of our culture’ and that movies, TV and music have led to ‘a debasement of the moral environment’.” – Variety 08/17/00

ARTS CUTS

Ottawa, Canada’s capital, is consolidating into a “megacity” and the board overseeing the transition has decided to cut a promised $500,000 for the arts from the new city’s budget surplus. “We are just one tenth of one percent of the regional budget and to grab that money, they really are going to have some upset artists.” – CBC 08/17/00

LAGUNA FESTIVAL FIGHT

“The day after the festival board voted 5-0 late Tuesday to move the Festival of Arts and Pageant of the Masters to a bigger site in San Clemente, artists and other opponents of the move vowed to step up their fight. ‘We will not allow this to happen. They may go, but the festival will not go with them. The artists will not go. The pageant people indicated they will not go and volunteers said they will not go’.” – Orange County Register 08/17/00

WAR STORIES

Franz Welser-Möst survived his six-year tenure as conductor of the London Philharmonic – but just barely. Installed as music director at age 29, he made sweeping (and unpopular) changes, saw three managing directors unseated in his six years,  and was dubbed “Frankly Worse Than Most” by his critics. Now, four years after his departure, he’s back on top – head of Zurich Opera, and about to take on the Cleveland – and finally able to reflect on his difficult past. – The Telegraph (UK)

MOMA MATTERS

Artists Robert Rauschenberg and Art Spiegelman, filmmakers Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese and performers Laurie Anderson and David Byrne have spoken out in support of striking employees at the Museum of Modern Art. The first strike in 27 years by museum employees — including archivists, conservators, curators, librarians and other professionals is now in its seventh month. – New Jersey Online (AP)