“The thousands of field recordings of American folk and vernacular music that were made by Mr. Lomax and his colleagues rank high among the cultural treasures to be found in the Library of Congress. … Next to nothing is known about most of the people who cut those rough-hewn recordings, nearly all of whom were amateurs or semiprofessionals who made music purely for their own pleasure and that of their families and friends.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Composer And Educator William Duckworth Dead At 69
“Duckworth, who claimed to be the founder of postminimalism, wrote some 200 compositions, the best known of which are Time Curve Preludes for piano, composed in the late 1970s, and [1980s choral work] Southern Harmony … One of the first composers to grasp and exploit the possibilities of the internet, [he co-]created iOrpheus, an opera performed on iPods, mobile phones and laptops.”
America’s First Self-Help Book
“Officially, The Long Lost Friend is a grimoire, a book of magic … [and it] may well be the most influential and, at one time, most well known grimoire to have originated in the New World. … [Yet c]alling The Long Lost Friend a book of magic is misleading to the modern mind.”
The Man Who Saved The Royal Shakespeare Company
Outgoing artistic director Michael Boyd “inherited a debt of £3 million, and a company that was so near to collapse that people were suggesting it should be merged with the National Theatre. But he has restored its reputation, taken it to a rebuilt home with a wonderful auditorium, and raised its profile worldwide. Under his directorship, the RSC has become once more a glory of British theatre.”
Canadian Mint Relents, Won’t Charge Musician Royalty On Picture Of Pennies
“The Royal Canadian Mint has had a change of heart over charging Nova Scotia musician Dave Gunning for using an image of the penny on his album cover. Mint spokeswoman Christine Aquino says it will no longer be charging Gunning a fee for every album he issues of his soon-to-be-released recording No More Pennies.”
Producer Of Anti-Muhammad Video That Sparked US Embassy Attacks Gave False Identity
The man who claims to have made Innocence of Muslims identified himself to the AP as “Sam Bacile,” an Israeli Jew and California real estate developer – yet agencies in Israel and California have no record of his existence. AP’s subsequent investigation seems to point to Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, a Coptic Christian immigrant and convicted felon.
The Movie The Muslim World Is Furious About Might Not Really Exist
The only actual footage of the slanderous anti-Muhammad “biopic” Innocence of Muslims anyone can find is a 14-minute online video of clips. The action is awkwardly shot against a green screen; all references to Muhammad and Islam are clumsily dubbed in; the actors involved maintain they were working from a script titled Desert Warriors about a figure called “Master George.”
UK’s Channel Four Cancels Screening Of Controversial Doc On Islam’s Origins
Tom Holland’s Islam: The Untold Story “examined claims that rather than Islam’s doctrine emerging fully-formed in a single text, the religion instead developed gradually over many years with the expansion of Arabic empires. … [The film] received around 1,200 complaints when it was first broadcast at the end of August.”
Free Pussy Riot, Says Russian Prime Minister
“Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Wednesday called for three members of the punk band Pussy Riot to be freed … The outward appearance of the women, who perform in bright-colored miniskirts and balaclavas, and the ‘hysteria’ accompanying them made him sick, Medvedev said with disdain. But he said keeping them in prison any longer would be ‘unproductive’.”
Ai Weiwei: ‘The Chinese Art World Does Not Exist’
“I don’t think it’s worth discussing new directions in the context of Chinese art – there were no old directions, either. … Chinese art is merely a product: it avoids any meaningful engagement. There is no larger context. Its only purpose is to charm viewers with its ambiguity.”