Joseph Epstein discovers someone has plagiarized his work. That gets him to thinking: “I have myself always been terrified of plagiarism–of being accused of it, that is. Every writer is a thief, though some of us are more clever than others at disguising our robberies. The reason writers are such slow readers is that we are ceaselessly searching for things we can steal and then pass off as our own: a natty bit of syntax, a seamless transition, a metaphor that jumps to its target like an arrow shot from an aluminum crossbow.”
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In Toronto – Body-Watching
An exhibition of plastinated bodies has been a huge hit in Toronto. “Officials announced that a total of 458,726 visitors paid anywhere from $15 to $25 each to attend Body Worlds 2, the controversial exhibition of 200 plastinated body parts and cadavers (including 20 whole bodies), that had its first-ever Canadian premiere at the centre last September.”
Juilliard Given Priceless Collection
New York’s Juilliard School has been given a treasure trove of original scores, notes, and manuscripts by some of the greatest composers who ever lived. “Many of the manuscripts have been unavailable for generations and could be a significant source of new insight for scholars and performers.” The 139-piece collection, which is considered priceless and includes an original score for Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, “is so large that Juilliard is building a special room for the manuscripts” as part of a larger renovation to be completed in 2009.
What’d They Get?
Here’s a partial list of the scores and manuscripts included in the Juilliard collection…
The Tech Behind Oscar Night
It takes a lot of miles of cable and some fancy coordination to make Oscar night work…
Mile-High Dreams In Denver Come Up Short
Denver’s makeover of its Opera House was accomplished on a modest budget. But “expectations were too high” writes Mark Swed. “Architect Peter Lucking and acoustician Robert Mahoney had boasted that the Ellie would turn out to be one of the 10 best opera houses in the world. Well, it isn’t, and given its myriad requirements and modest budget, was never likely to be.”
New – Art Of The Cell Phone
“In what is the boldest venture yet by an established media company to insinuate itself into millions of cellphones, the News Corporation has created a mobile entertainment store called Mobizzo and a production studio to focus exclusively on developing cellphone entertainment in much the same way that 20th Century Fox creates movies and television.”
Scientists Find Lost Civilization Under Volcano
Scientists say they have found traces of a lost civilization in Indonesia buried by a volcano almost 200 years ago. “Mount Tambora’s cataclysmic eruption on April 10, 1815, buried the inhabitants of Sumbawa Island under searing ash, gas and rock and is blamed for an estimated 88,000 deaths. The eruption was at least four times more powerful than Mount Krakatoa’s in 1883.”
NPR Affiliates Worry About Centralized Podcast Directory
National Public Radio has been getting into podcasting in a serious way. But “local stations worry that contributions from listeners will dry up if their programming is distributed through NPR’s uber-guide, NPR Podcast Directory.”
Science Fiction Writer Octavia Butler, 58
“Butler, 58, died after falling and striking her head Friday on a walkway outside her home. The reclusive writer, who moved to Seattle in 1999 from her native Southern California, was a giant in stature (she was 6 feet tall by age 15) and in accomplishment. She remains the only science fiction writer to receive one of the vaunted “genius grants” from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, a hard-earned $295,000 windfall in 1995 that followed years of poverty and personal struggles with shyness and self-doubt.”