Author: Douglas McLennan

RECKLESS ENDANGERMENT

Time Magazine art critic Robert Hughes goes on trial next week in Australia for dangerous driving. But he says he won’t get a fair trial unless he can present evidence about a $15,000 extortion attempt against him. Detectives charged two men on Wednesday night over the extortion attempt on Mr Hughes after a police sting operation involving a $15,000 drop-off at Perth airport. – The Age (Melbourne)

FORMULA FOR SUCCESS

Critics accuse Trevor Nunn, head of London’s National Theatre, of turning the company into the home of bland, crowd-pleasing fare. So much so, that there’s a debate going on about whether Nunn’s contract ought to be renewed. But if the productions are so blah, how come the National’s team keeps winning so many awards? – The Guardian

BUILDUP BEGINS

It’s still a year away from being released. But the buzz is building. “In the war of the film trailer promos distributed as premieres over the internet, the promo for the upcoming (2001) release of the first episode in the epochal live action version of JRR Tolkien’s immortal novel ‘The Lord of the Rings’ did almost double the traffic of the similar trailer release for ‘Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace.'” – Daily Mail and Guardian (South Africa) 05/04/00

AIRWAVE CLUTTER

Radio ad rates are high right now, tempting stations to pack ever more commercials on the air. “Since the Federal Communications Commission deregulated the radio industry in 1996, stations have increased their commercial load by 25 to 33 percent. That means most FM stations play anywhere from 10 to 15 minutes of diet pill pitches and fast food ads each hour. News-talk stations play even more, mixing up to 20 minutes of commercials with baseball scores and headlines.” – St. Louis Post-Dispatch 05/04/00

UNDERSTANDING IMPRESSIONISM

In the spring of 1886, your opinion of impressionism seemed determined by whether you lived in Paris or New York: “In New York, critics aligned impressionism with cubism by emphasizing their rationalist aspects, whereas in Paris their differences as perceptualist and structuralist modes took priority.” A 21-page pamphlet entitled “Science and Philosophy in Art” was circulated at an exhibition in New York and eventually made its way back the French impressionist painters, who took it up excitedly and distributed it amongst themselves.  The writer turned out to be a 29-year-old American woman chemist, Helen Cecilia de Silver Abbott, whose particular defense of impressionism was before its time. – American Art

SLASH AND BURN, BABY

One might not be able to (or want to) imagine Captain Kirk, Agent Fox Mulder, and Obi-Wan Kenobi as the fodder for red-hot gay erotica, but for the burgeoning groups of writers known as “slash” or “Fan-fict” writers (mostly heterosexual women) pop culture’s most famous male stars are the stuff fantasies are made of.  Largely published in print fanzines and on the web, slash writers have “elaborated the worlds they felt were ignored by the shows’ producers, ‘repairing or dismissing unsatisfying aspects.'” – Brill’s Content

PASSION PLAY

Australian fans of the TV show “Xena” have formed a club and are performing shows based on the series. “In recent weeks, they’ve perfected costumes and choreography for a production of ‘Bittersuite,’ a musical revival of a favourite Xena episode by the same name. In weekly practices, they clank plastic swords, march in unison and sing such lyrics as, ‘Forgive those who harm you, do good to those you hate.’ ” No word yet on whether Cameron Mackintosh has optioned the rights. – The Age (Melbourne)

DANGEROUS RIDE

The Shubert Organization, producers of the Broadway play “The Ride Down Mount Morgan,” have filed charges of unprofessional conduct with Actors Equity Association against the show’s star, Patrick Stewart. Stewart gave an impromptu speech after Saturday’s performance accusing the Shuberts of under-promoting the play. “Stewart could be reprimanded or fined if the union agrees with the producers.” – New York Times