“Claude Berri, the French producer- director whose rural saga ‘Jean de Florette’ won him international acclaim, died today at age 74, his art gallery said. During his five-decade film career, Berri directed more than 20 movies.”
Author: Laura Collins Hughes
Has Guitar Hero Taught Us Nothing? Strings Are Too Hard!
“Why are they still making guitars with ‘real’ strings that are difficult and boring to learn how to play and really make your fingers hurt? What is the point? Do we still slaughter our own cows? Dig our own wells? Work in the turnip fields for 18 hours a day, six days a week? No.” The solution is obvious: Redesign the guitar. Buttons only this time.
Remain Calm, Morris-Dancing Fans; It’s Merely A Lull
Poet-performer John Hegley says there’s no cause for panic about the health of Morris dancing:
“The Morris is a mate of mine
the rumours state it’s in decline!
My answer is a little dull,
it’s not decline – it’s just a lull:
like concertinas squeeze to shut
until the arms unbend,
like deckchairs go back in the hut
at every summer’s end.”
Challenging The Limits Of Dance, With And Without Legs
“A company of disabled and non-disabled dancers, Candoco was never going to settle for sideshow status: it was main billing or nothing. And now, they’re players on the world stage.”
Let’s Make Sure Artists Don’t Starve In This Recession
“With the recession and credit crunch licking at our boots and high heels, many more artists will be joining the ranks of the starving or cash-poor, while every penny goes on paint, canvas, paper, pen, music sheets, strings, rosin, film or video. … What we need is not more artists, nor fewer, but more saints – such as the Carnegie or MacArthur foundations – willing to sprinkle a little seed money into the path of deserving artists, that their tiny hands may not be frozen.”
Brits Trying To Turn Basra Palace Into An Iraqi Museum
“While Iraq struggles to return to peaceful normality, the British have been working to restore some of the country’s pride in its past – with a museum.”
Retrying Shylock: Diana’s Lawyer On Finding Against Him
“Seven senior lawyers convened in New York last month to reconsider the case against Shylock, Shakespeare’s money lender in The Merchant of Venice. One of those lawyers, Anthony Julius – best known for representing Princess Diana in her divorce from Prince Charles – explains why he voted to let merchant Antonio keep the money after all.”
Cuba Allows Electronic Access To Hemingway Papers
“Cuba has opened up electronic access to thousands of documents belonging to the writer Ernest Hemingway, who wrote some of his greatest works on the island.
The archive includes photographs, letters and manuscripts, as well as an unpublished epilogue to Hemingway’s novel, For Whom the Bell Tolls.”
One Thing The Downturn Won’t Kill: The Art Fair
“[T]he fair phenomenon, which grew out of the need for dealers to compete with the ever-expanding range of the auction rooms, is now deeply entrenched as a concept for convenient one-stop shopping and has become a key source of income for dealers.” While “there may now be too many fairs, and some may fall by the wayside, those that adapt to the new economic reality can survive.”
Bad Economy = Good News For Used-Book Sellers
“The consensus of the economic pundits seems to be that 2009 is going to be awful – every bit as bad as 2008. … In the search for silver linings, I conclude that this can only be good news for secondhand book dealers. So my prediction for 2009 is that the devoted book reader will beat a path ever more urgently to those forgotten, out-of-the-way corners of musty tranquility of which the shopping class knows nothing.”