“You’ve heard the quote: Don’t judge a book by its cover. But what does the author’s photograph say about the book?” And how important is the photo to marketing the book? Very.
Author: Laura Collins Hughes
Moral Of The Story: Don’t Review Your Bosses’ Pirated Film
Entertainment blogger Roger Friedman “has parted company with Fox News after a controversial post in which he reviewed a leaked, incomplete version of 20th Century Fox’s ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine.'” The post “drew instant fire from the blogosphere for what was seen as a tacit promotion of the download” and “was particularly bothersome to News Corp., the parent company of both Fox News and 20th Century Fox.”
For Survival, Sometimes Pride Is Neither Deadly Nor Sinful
“The fine art of keeping up appearances may seem shallow and deceitful, the very embodiment of denial. But many psychologists beg to differ. To the extent that it sustains good habits and reflects personal pride, they say, this kind of play-acting can be an extremely effective social strategy, especially in uncertain times.”
Uh-oh, Hipsters: You’re Not Driving The Cultural Buzz
New “research, presented in late March at the annual meeting of the Association of American Geographers, locates hot spots based on the frequency and draw of cultural happenings: film and television screenings, concerts, fashion shows, gallery and theater openings.” The study, “The Geography of Buzz,” aimed “to be able to quantify and understand, visually and spatially, how this creative cultural scene really worked.”
An Iraq War Battle Is Remade As A Video Game
To create the video game “Six Days in Fallujah,” developers “tapped dozens of soldiers who were involved in the real-life 2004 battle for the Iraqi city to add realism to their action game, which the company plans to release next year. … As the capabilities of videogame hardware have burgeoned, the bar for realism in games has been raised. But Atomic Games wants its new release to be more than a game. The company sees it as a new kind of documentary.”
To Readers, Fictional Characters Can Seem All Too Real
“[T]he world of fiction and the world of real flesh-and-blood people are not quite as separate as one might imagine,” Alexander McCall Smith writes. “Although we eventually learn to distinguish between the world of make-believe and the real world, I suspect that many of us continue to experience fictional characters and events as being, in some way, real.”
At Smithsonian, Some Of The Numbers Look Good
“With its endowment down nearly 30 percent since late 2007, with several of its departments planning 10 percent budget cuts and with 27 positions eliminated at its business unit in 2009, the Smithsonian Institution still sees some silver linings in the stormy economic skies.” Among them: “Visitor attendance is up compared with the first three months of last year, with 5.3 million people passing through its museums thus far in 2009.”
New Smithsonian Museum Should Embrace Bold Design
“The choice of design for the Smithsonian’s new National Museum of African American History and Culture may well be the highest-profile architectural decision that will be made in Washington for years to come.” The six competing designs offer a choice: “to go forward and break with the punishing conventions that have stymied our architectural creativity, or to build yet another blandly institutional building, a fading echo of something that was never very good to begin with.” One design stands out.
What’s Townshend’s Guitar Doing In V&A Theatre Galleries?
“Want a glimpse of Kylie Minogue’s minidress or Mick Jagger’s jumpsuit? How about a close-up of Pete Townshend’s smashed guitar? The Victoria & Albert Museum’s new Theatre & Performance Galleries are the place for you. They just might not be the best place for them.”
Quake Did ‘Enormous’ Damage To Italy’s Cultural Heritage
“Italy’s deadliest earthquake in three decades damaged some of the country’s oldest monuments, including the medieval dome of a 13th-century church that survived another quake three centuries ago. The remote and mountainous region of Abruzzo, where the earthquake on April 6 hit hardest, includes well preserved medieval and Renaissance towns that are home to some of the country’s priceless art works.”