“Daily newspapers are losing circulation, Hollywood advertising and their influence over moviegoers. As publishers struggle to hang on to their readers via online content, blogs and podcasts, some are replacing experienced critics with younger, less expensive models. Newspaper editors seem to believe hiring a younger critic will help them build a wider demo… But when established critics stop reviewing, they often leave behind a gaping hole.”
Blog
The Great Shrinking WTC Memorial
As the cost of the World Trade Center memorial escalate, the question has to be asked whether it’s time to scrp the project. “As the memorial has leapt in cost, its commemorative possibilities have shrunk… The very officials who are shocked at the price tag bear considerable responsibility for it. A steep cost became inevitable when politicians acceded to the early clamor to define the entire footprints of both towers as sacred ground.”
The Cooking Writer As Plagiarist
Mrs Beeton was the legendary cooking writer. But a new biography accuses her of plagiarizing everything. “Isabella Beeton was only 21 when she began cookery writing. Her first recipe for Victoria sponge was so inept that she left out the eggs. Seven years later she was dead. How did she come to write the seminal book? ‘The answer is she copied everything’.”
Who Owns You When You’re Famous? (And Why It Matters)
Increasingly, celebrities are claiming ownership of any mention of their famous selves. “Some worry that publicity rights have already expanded too far, allowing celebrities unilaterally to dictate how the rest of us can portray them. Others respond that it’s simply the law’s reasonable recognition of the economic value of celebrity. The issues and arguments can be similar to those in trademark and copyright cases. In a unique way though, right-of-publicity disputes are also about fame-who owns it, and what it’s worth.”
Consider… The Accordion
June is National Accordion Awareness Month. So is the accordion becoming cool again? “The sound of a piano accordion makes people happy. If I were to join the musicians who played while the Titanic was sinking, I’d grab my Weltmeister piano accordion — the smaller one I use for strolling — and play a nice German beer-barrel polka. It’d be a great sing-along that would put everyone in a better mood.”
McCoy Tyner At 67
“He has translated what life has told him into music over the course of dozens of albums and thousands of live gigs going back to 1959, when he made his professional debut with the Art Farmer-Benny Golson Jazztet. A year after that, he joined saxophonist John Coltrane’s quartet, and basically paved the road that most post-bebop jazz pianists followed, and still do.”
A Share In A Great Violin
Violinist Robert McDuffie wanted a great violin but couldn’t afford the cost himself. “So he incorporated, setting up 1737 del Gesu Partners, L.P., and convinced 16 friends and acquaintances (including himself) to invest in the instrument. The return on equity? Two private concerts a year, a share in any profits when McDuffie sells the violin in 2024 — and the pleasure of seeing and hearing a master play a masterpiece.”
The Day The Great Memorials Died
“For a long time their architects and artists, their stone-carvers and bronze-founders got better and better. For a long time their elevated style got nobler and nobler. Then, suddenly, it died. It died a poignant death — at the peak of its accomplishment, just when it got great. We know the date exactly. Memorial sculpture’s greatness left Washington forever on the 30th of May, Memorial Day, 1922.”
Major Zankel Gift To Carnegie Hall
Philanthropist Arthur Zankel gave Carnegie Hall $10 million to build a theatre. Now, in his death he has given Carnegie an even bigger gift. “According to the terms of the bequest, Carnegie Hall will end up receiving at least $22 million, the second-largest gift in its history, for its endowment. Proceeds estimated at about $1 million a year will go toward paying for performances and educational projects at Zankel Hall.”
Does The Regional Tony Mean Anything?
“On Broadway the Tonys sometimes help winning shows and sometimes make no difference at all. When the Tony lands at a regional theater, its effect is no more predictable. The winners of the regional award have varied widely.”