“Researchers at the University of Michigan Health System found that a 3-year-old kid exposed to two hours or more of TV a day was nearly three times more likely to be overweight than a child who watched fewer than two hours. That stands to reason: If a kid is watching TV, he’s not burning off fat. Once again, however, TV is being blamed for society’s ills, rather than society being blamed for its own problems.”
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TV For 6-Month-Olds? Hmnnn…
The creators of Sesame Street are producing a new series of shows for kids as young as six months. This has some child development experts upset. “There is no evidence that screen media is beneficial for babies and growing evidence it may be harmful. ‘Sesame Beginnings’ will encourage babies’ devotion to TV characters that have been licensed to promote hundreds of other products’.”
So What? As Long As They’re Talking About You…
General Motors launches a website where visitors can make their own ads for an SUV. Of course many of the ads ridicule the vehicle. Think GM’s mad? Hardly. ‘We’re engaging consumers in this two-way discussion. It’s creating buzz and people are learning about the product.’ In just two weeks, more than 21,000 ads have been created. Visitors have emailed them to others 41,000 times. There have been 250,000 unique visitors to the site and over 2.4 million page views.”
Oscar Treadwell, 79
Cinncinnati jazz radio host Oscar Treadwell was a legend in the business. “He and his passion for music were immortalized by some of jazz’s masters. Charlie Parker composed “An Oscar for Treadwell,” which he recorded in 1949 with Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk and Buddy Rich. In 1950, Wardell Gray recorded “Treadin’ with Treadwell.” And in 1955, Monk sent Mr. Treadwell a copy of his composition “Oska T” for use as a theme song.”
Kong DVD Beats Theatres In First Week
The King Kong movie has sold $100m (£57.4m) in its first week out on DVD. That beats what the film did at the movie theatres in its first week in release. “The film, made by Oscar-winning director Peter Jackson, sold 6.5m copies in the format. In its first five days, King Kong took $66m (£37.8m) at the North American box office, falling short of the $75m (£43m) it was expected to make.”
Recording Industry Renews Legal Action Against Downloaders
“The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry is taking legal action against nearly 2,000 song-swappers in 10 countries. The British music industry says illegal file-sharing has cost it £1.1bn over the last three years. Research firm XTN data said that illegal downloads in the UK have increased by 3% to 28% of music downloads since last September.”
Arts Funding Wrapped Up With the Hunting And Fishing Crowd
Legislators in Minnesota are planning let voters decide “this fall whether to raise the state sales tax by .375 percent. That would bring the tax up to 6.875 percent. The dedicated funding would go to hunting and fishing resources, parks and trails, clean water programs and the arts.”
Julia Roberts A Broadway Box Office Hit
The actress’s Broadway debut sold out in its first week of previews, earning almost $1 million at the box office. “The eight performances, which began March 28, played to 101 percent of capacity (which includes standing room) at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, the league said. The Richard Greenberg play — Roberts’ Broadway debut — opens April 19.”
Think it? Write It
“Brain-wave typing could become reality in just a few years. It would open up a world of communication with caregivers and loved ones for people disabled by ALS, cerebral palsy or high-level spinal-cord injuries. With little or no muscle control, communicating clearly, or even at all is difficult, if not impossible. Researchers in the brain-computer interface, or BCI, Group at New York State Public Health Department’s Wadsworth Center are enrolling patients in trials of a system that could enable them to send e-mail and communicate using their brain waves.”
Another Sad Tale Of Failed Dance In Southern Cal
Ethan Stiefel should have been the guy to make a dance company work in the Los Angeles area. But he was thwarted. Why? “Too bad he had to learn the hard way what the rest of us have understood for a long time: Everybody wants a resident world-class ballet company in the Southland, but nobody wants to pay for it. And rather than repeating [oft chronicled reasons] and clucking sadly yet again, how about considering a radical proposal? How about forbidding anyone to start yet another new local penniless ballet company until we’ve doubled our dance audience through a host of development strategies?”