“China’s government today urged the estate of the late French designer Yves Saint Laurent to return two Qing Dynasty bronze sculptures scheduled for a Feb. 25 auction by Christie’s International in Paris. The two animal-heads — a rabbit and a rat — were severed from a water fountain at Beijing’s imperial Summer Palace when British and French troops plundered and burned the palace in October 1860.”
Author: Laura Collins Hughes
New Box-Office Angle: Cheap Tix, 3 PM Buying Deadline
“The latest recession-era sales strategy for hawking Broadway and Off Broadway tickets: Impulse buys. Discount theater website BroadwayBox.com recently launched LunchTix, which every weekday morning emails members with a low-price ticket offer that expires at 3 p.m. that day.”
Bankers, Michael Moore Wants Your Help For Bailout Film
“Filmmaker Michael Moore, who says the Wall Street bailout is ‘the biggest swindle in American history,’ is asking bankers to help him make a movie proving it.” So should they? One crisis-management professional says no, advising bankers to “counter potential fallout from Moore’s venture by assembling a rescue program to buy houses going into foreclosure and give them back to their owners.”
Zach Feuer Gallery Cuts Its Artist Roster Nearly In Half
“Zach Feuer, the New York dealer with a knack for turning young art-school grads into stars, has dropped eight artists — nearly half of his roster. ‘I didn’t want to be big in this economy,’ said Feuer, 30. ‘Now is the time to have a lower overhead and be small and lean.'”
Supreme Court Should Reverse Miami’s Ban Of Cuba Book
“Schools are supposed to introduce children to a variety of ideas and viewpoints, but the Miami-Dade School Board decided a few years ago to put one viewpoint off limits. It banned the children’s book ‘A Visit to Cuba’ from its school libraries because it said the book offers too positive a portrait of life under the Castro regime. That was bad enough, but then last week, a federal appeals court upheld the ban. The Supreme Court should reverse this disturbing ruling.”
A Conductor With The Chops, But Not The Orchestra
“How can a conductor as obviously talented as [Grammy winner John McLaughlin Williams] remain hidden in plain sight? The answer has to do with his relatively late start and the circuitous path he took to the podium, the unusual repertoire he has chosen to champion and the vagaries of a business in which the best musicians don’t always get the best gigs.”
Dogs Go About Their Business At The Dog Park, In Bronze
“Dogs do what dogs do – and in Berkeley, ‘dog do’ is now part of some very public art. Decorative medallions depicting dogs sniffing, dumping and humping each other have recently been added to the base of one of a pair of sculptures commissioned by the city on either end of the pedestrian and bike bridge over Interstate 80.”
Ticketmaster-Live Nation Union Bodes Ill For Consumers
“It’s easy to see why Live Nation Inc. and Ticketmaster Entertainment Inc. want to blend their operations into a new entity called Live Nation Entertainment. … Far more difficult to fathom is how this partnership would in any way benefit consumers, and how it could pass muster in a federal antitrust proceeding.”
As Funding Tightens, Pew Gives Even More To Dance
“In the fragile realm of dance, funding is hard to come by even in the best of times. But now, despite a decidedly mean economic climate, the Pew Charitable Trusts’ dance program has awarded its largest sum yet: $917,000 to 26 performers and organizations.”
Responding To Amazon Review, Author Makes A House Call
“When Wittenberg University professor Dan Fleisch read on Amazon.com that Michel Cuhaci of Ottawa had received a flawed copy of Fleisch’s book ‘A Student’s Guide to Maxwell’s Equation,’ he posted a comment, identifying himself as the author and promising Cuhaci he would try to send the book via overnight courier. The only problem was, it was Christmas Eve.” So Fleisch headed for the airport.