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The Show That Made Gay Okay (Even If We Don’t Remember It)

When NBC’s long-running sitcom, Will & Grace, says its final goodbyes tonight, it will probably seem to most viewers a minor event. And that, says Gail Shister, is a testament to just how far American audiences have come in their perception of gay culture since the show debuted in 1998. “If Ellen opened the door, Will & Grace burst into the room with a marching band, tastefully accessorized… Without a single sermon, [the show] advanced the national conversation about homosexuality.”

M-SPIFF Goes From Almost Postponed To More Than Solvent

This year’s edition of the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Film Festival (M-SPIFF) almost didn’t happen, due to financial problems, staff changes, and other difficulties. But the festival went off as scheduled in the end, and this week, organizers announced that the event finished in the black, with even a small surplus left over after all the bills were paid.

Telefilm Canada Not Getting Its Hollywood Hotshot, After All

“The English-Canadian film industry reacted with more wry amusement than outrage yesterday after learning Michael Jenkinson, the man hired by Telefilm Canada to whip the moribund feature-film sector into shape, would not be showing up for work. Less than three weeks after Los Angeles-based Jenkinson was exuberantly introduced at a Toronto press conference as Telefilm’s newly minted go-to-guy with a mandate to revitalize English-language cinema, a red-faced Telefilm issued late Tuesday a vague press release that suggested business complications in California had forced Jenkinson to back out at the final hour.”

Bleeding Howard

As the number of listeners purchasing and using satellite radio increases, an unexpected problem is becoming a major irritant to some of those still relying on terrestrial radio. Many satellite users employ a small mini-transmitter to allow their satellite signal to be heard on their existing FM radios, and despite the limited range of the transmitter signal, complaints have begun rolling in to FM stations whose frequency is the same as the mini-transmitters that listeners are being forced to listen to Howard Stern or Opie and Anthony “bleeding” into the FM signal from some unknown location.

Raising The Bar(re) On Academics

The career trajectory of a dancer is so short that, from a very early age, talented specimens are encouraged to devote themselves heart and soul to their art, and not to waste a minute on frivolities like, say, higher education. The result is that many dancers, who can expect to retire their toe shoes before they turn 40, are simply not qualified to do anything else once they do retire. Two prominent New York ballet companies have been looking to change that unfortunate equation, offering its young dancers the chance to take classes at conveniently located colleges, even as they continue their rigorous dance studies.

Burn Bright, Burn Out: How Opera Works Today

As Joseph Volpe prepares to step down from the helm of the Metropolitan Opera, a glance at this weekend’s gala celebration of his tenure can tell a lot about the state of modern opera. “It’s interesting that Mr. Volpe’s gala, celebrating a nearly 16-year reign that is being bruited as one of the Met’s most illustrious, is focused so firmly on the present… Career development is not a high priority in today’s opera world. What is a priority is finding the latest stars and getting them up in front of the public, in as many places as possible, and in as many attractive roles as possible, regardless of how well suited they happen to be to a particular role.”

The Sin of Omission

Musician and rock critic Stephin Merritt has lately become a target of several of his fellow critics, who have branded him a racist. Merritt’s crime? Making a list of his favorite songs that included no black artists, disliking modern hip-hop, and saying that he liked the song, “Zip A Dee Doo Dah.” The flame war has ignited a debate over the line between musical taste and the wider culture. Or as one writer put it, “If the number of black artists in your iPod falls too far below 12.5 percent of the total, then you are violating someone’s civil rights.”

The Politics of Privacy

The debate over privacy vs. security has been raging in Washington and across the country recently, thanks to the controversial surveillance tactics being used by the Bush Administration. But in such a globally connected world, what is privacy, anyway, and can we really afford it? Bruce Schneier says the issue is far simpler than many people make it sound, and the obvious conclusion is that we can’t afford not to make privacy a priority. “We are not deliberately hiding anything when we seek out private places for reflection or conversation. We keep private journals, sing in the privacy of the shower, and write letters to secret lovers and then burn them. Privacy is a basic human need.”

Perhaps He Should Be Development Director, Then?

Earlier this month, Seattle Symphony music director Gerard Schwarz received a three-year contract extension, which will carry him through his 26th season with the orchestra. But when you talk to people inside the organization, it sounds as if the reasons for keeping Schwarz at the helm have very little to do with music. He has been sued by his own musicians, accused of having little to say musically, and while there can be no doubt that Schwarz has been a masterful raiser of money, one observer says that “The [symphony] board is already a laughingstock around the country for allowing itself to become hostage to the fund-raising abilities of its music director.”