“Considered an easy new revenue source after the 3-D re-release of Walt Disney Studios’ The Lion King popped out of the screen and grossed nearly $100 million last year, most such follow-ups have landed with a thud in 2012.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Jacksonville Symphony Musicians Give Their Side Of Contract Dispute
“In recent weeks, musicians from the Jacksonville Symphony continue to perform without a contract. … Last week, the Times-Union editorial board met with a group of musicians from the symphony to hear their side of the dispute.”
No Megahit Books This Year, But Small Bookstores Say They’re Doing Well Anyway
Bookscan figures for 2012 “provide a snapshot of the fragmented holiday sales picture as a whole: independent bookstores report that a range of books are moving nicely, but there are mixed numbers from Barnes & Noble, the nation’s largest book chain, and solid but not stellar growth in digital sales.”
John Kander On Why Cabaret And Chicago Were Bigger Hits In Revival Decades Later
“One [thing] is that for a whole period we were deluged with big lavish musicals where the sets were almost more important than the content. And then something like Chicago, which was very spare, where all you have is content, is suddenly seemed new and refreshing. Some people have said that we’re more cynical today. But when Chicago happened we were just off the Watergate scandal.”
Photographing Climate Change
A Q&A with James Balog, founder of “the Extreme Ice Survey, a long-term visual art and science project to record the shrinking of the Earth’s glaciers using dozens of time-lapse cameras placed in 16 glacial locations around the world, such as in Alaska, Greenland and the Himalayas.”
The Atlantic‘s Ten Ideas That Changed The World In 2012
Conor Friedersdorf: “So think of what follows as a proposition to ponder: all that follows” – from the rise of 3D printers to the demise of centrism in US politics – “is either going to reshape our world, or would reshape it if only the idea in question were given its due.”
Paperwork, The New Historical Goldmine
“True, there are not yet any dedicated journals or conferences. But in history, anthropology, literature and media studies departments and beyond, a group of loosely connected scholars are taking a fresh look at office memos, government documents and corporate records, not just for what they say but also for how they circulate and the sometimes unpredictable things they do.”
The Mad Monk Who Pioneered Poésie Concrète
“Not only was he a pioneer of concrete poetry, in which the typographic style of the letters is as important as the meaning and rhythm of the words,” Dom Sylvester Houédard “also wrote extensively on new approaches to art, spirituality and philosophy as well as collaborating with artists including Gustav Metzger and Yoko Ono, and the composer John Cage.”
Emily Dickinson’s Furniture (She Spent A Lot Of Time With It)
“Something about the fact that she never left the house lends her personal things a more meaningful tone – she spent every day surrounded by these things, and her experiences were so limited that we find ourselves looking for answers in every teacup.”
Race For The Bottom: The Best, And Worst, Seats In Australia’s Venues
“Personal comfort, however, is something that concerns us all.” The Australian arts editor Matthew Westwood, who is 6’9″ tall, has been taking a tape measure with him on his rounds of the nation’s theatres and concert halls, and he’s now sharing the results of his extensive research.