Author: Laura Collins Hughes

In The Real World, Virtual Law Is A Growth Industry

“Like so many things, virtual law started with sex. Specifically, the first known legal case originating in a virtual world” — that would be Eros vs. Volkov Catteneo — “was over a bed designed for rolls in the virtual hay. … Although the courts have seen only a few such disputes so far, a number of law firms have created practices focused on virtual worlds and video games, or set up offices within Second Life itself.”

$3M From Government Saves Stratford’s Midsummer

“A full slate of performances of A Midsummer Night’s Dream is back on at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, thanks to a $3-million cash infusion from the federal government’s Marquee Tourism Events Program, announced Monday. … Antoni Cimolino, Stratford’s general director, said the government has ‘listened and acted’ and that he expects the added funds to ‘turn this year around’ for Stratford.”

Getty Trust Cuts Staff 14%, Chops Budget Even Further

“The J. Paul Getty Trust will slash its workforce by 14% — a loss of 205 jobs — under a newly adopted budget for the 2009-10 fiscal year that begins July 1. In a statement released Monday, Getty officials said they expect to lay off 97 current regular employees, with the rest of the reduction to come from positions either now vacant or likely to come open through normal turnover.”

T.C. Boyle Et Al On The Reasons We Read

“We read to free ourselves from the grind and the misery and big ticking time-bomb questions of life. We read for the same reason we walk alone in the woods or squeeze our ears between headphones. We all need contemplative time, time away, time in another world altogether. For me, that happens when I pick up a good book — or, for that matter, a good newspaper.”

Great Battles In Architecture (Gehry’s Is The Latest)

After some ham-handed maneuvers by the suddenly budget-conscious city of Miami Beach, Frank Gehry has left a concert-hall project there, headlines blaring. “Gehry, however, is hardly the first architect to become embroiled in the kind of spat that goes down in architectural history books. The ghost of the brilliant Danish architect, Jørn Utzon, must surely haunt Sydney Opera House” — and the list goes on….

Across Museum Spectrum, Money Is The Universal Concern

“When roughly 5,000 museum professionals from across the country descend on Philadelphia this week for two conventions, they will represent institutions that exhibit everything from Old Masters to old rocks. But despite the multiplicity of interests and the range of institutional sizes and locations, there will be one thing on everyone’s mind. Money.”

J.G. Ballard’s Final Book Won’t Be Published After All

“As tributes to the late, great JG Ballard continue to roll in from all quarters, his publisher has quietly cancelled publication of what would have been his final book. HarperCollins had planned to bring out the non-fiction title, which would have been an account of Ballard’s discussions with his doctor, this September. But the author, suffering from cancer, was too ill to work on it….”

Bookmakers Close Bets On Laureate; Duffy A Done Deal?

“Bookmakers have stopped taking bets on who will be the next poet laureate after a weekend during which there was widespread speculation that Carol Ann Duffy will be appointed to the role later this week. … If Duffy has been chosen, her appointment is certain to have been helped along by the DCMS’s decision – for the first time – to ask the public for suggestions as to who should follow Motion.”