High school administrators who “fretted over how to deal with freaking, grinding and other provocative dances” are combating “explicit teen dancing with an equal dose of explicitness” in the contracts they now require students and parents to sign “before a teenager can step onto the dance floor.”
Author: Laura Collins Hughes
Seattle May Close Most Libraries Two Days A Week
“Since 2000, library usage in the city has soared; from 4.5 million in-person and virtual visitors to 13.2 million in 2008,” but with city departments ordered “to cut budgets in response to a $72 million revenue shortfall, the library is proposing a 23 percent reduction in library hours.”
Frankfurt Book Fair Official Fired Over China Troubles
The Frankfurt Book Fair dismissed “Peter Ripken, 67, who was the project manager for the trade show’s international center, blaming him for ‘persistent coordination problems in connection with this year’s guest of honor, China.'”
Kindle Software Will Expand To PCs
“Dubbed Kindle for PC, the free software will enable readers to view full-color photos and use touch screens to browse books, turn pages and adjust font sizes for digital books purchased at Amazon’s online bookstore.”
To Boost DVD Sales, Hollywood May Delay Rental Dates
“Under the plan, new DVD releases would be available on a purchase-only basis for a few weeks, after which time companies such as Blockbuster Inc. and Netflix Inc. would be allowed to rent the DVDs to their customers.”
Dallas Symphony Maestro Commits Through 2015-16
Dallas Symphony Orchestra music director Jaap van Zweden will be staying a while. “Now starting his second season here, and a huge hit with musicians, audiences and critics, the Dutch conductor has signed a four-year extension to his initial four-year contract.”
Young Video Artist Wins $150K Wolgin Prize
“Ryan Trecartin, a young Philadelphia painter and sculptor whose psychedelic, desultory, kitschy video work has found love among critics and collectors, has been given the first $150,000 top award in the Wolgin International Competition in the Fine Arts – one of the richest art prizes in the world.”
Can Fiction Be Crowdsourced? (Coraline As Case In Point)
“How is a good story invented? Is it yet another of those decision-based endeavors that can, according to the technotopian, freakonomical wisdom of our time, be performed better en masse than by the hopelessly antiquated individual?”
And Spider-Man Will Finally Get To Broadway When?
“‘Spider-Man’ had been scheduled to begin previews Feb. 25 and open in March, but [an executive involved in the production] said in an interview Thursday evening that there was ‘no way’ that rehearsals for the musical would begin on schedule later this fall.”
Uh-Oh, Barnes & Noble: The Nook Is So Good It Hurts
“[E]ven though the Nook offers improvements that trounce the Kindle, it is hard not to see the device as a doomsday machine that could destroy B&N’s beleaguered business. … The Nook will put pressure on a structural weakness in B&N’s business plan, toppling a flailing operation.”