Twenty-five buses in Pittsburgh have been covered with poems. “The poetic exteriors are the latest in the ongoing effort to make buses more visually interesting than the red-and-white affairs that transported commuters a decade ago.”
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Ancient Tomb Under Roman Forum
A 3000-year-old tomb has been found underneath Rome’s Forum. “Archaeologists were excavating under the level of the ancient forum, a popular tourist site, when they dug up the tomb, which they suspect is part of an entire necropolis.”
Can Hollywood Make A Comeback?
“Hollywood took 7% less at the box office in 2005 than in 2004 and growth in sales of DVDs has slowed. Internet video threatens the satellite and cable systems of companies such as News Corporation and Time Warner. Dozens of advertisers are shifting budgets from television to such places as the internet and billboards. Brand-owners hate it that people are using digital video recorders to avoid their pitches. And if media firms move on to the internet themselves, they risk losing their films and television programmes to pirates. No wonder that on media island they are downcast. Yet, if Hollywood teaches one thing, it is that stories can be re-made and dreams can come true.”
Rebuilding Gulf Coast Arts, An Update
“A poll taken by the National Endowment for the Arts in September estimated damage to art institutions and performing-arts organizations to total at least $82 million — not including losses by individual artists.” Four months later, the arts are trying to rebuild…
Poet Irving Layton, 92
The Canadian firebrand “was nominated for the Nobel Prize for literature in 1982 and again in 1983, and won Italy’s Petrarch Prize for Poetry in 1993. A gifted lyricist, he considered himself a “romantic with a sense of irony” in both words and actions, and his confidence was matched by his talent, which he used to fight uniformity and puritanism.”
Iowa Historical Museum Fires Director
The director of Iowa’s State Historical has been fired after performance of the museum failed to live up to expectations. “His work gained little public attention, and attendance by school groups in 2005 fell to its lowest mark in seven years, according to a department report.”
The Man Who Stole The Cellini
So who was it that stole the Cellini saltcellar from a Vienna museum? The suspect “was a funny guy. He had collected sculptures in his youth and had a feeling for them. He also ran an alarm firm and was an expert in alarm systems. He knew exactly how to steal it. He told us afterwards it [the theft] was all rather spontaneous.”
What Defines A Citizen?
“Perhaps never before in human history has so much energy been devoted to trying to establish citizenship tests to define national identity. Judging from the debates raging and the confused choices made, there is as little agreement within each country as there is between them.”
A New Take On Low Tuition And High Standards
A study shows that only “3% of the students in America’s top colleges come from families in the lowest income quartile and only 10% from the bottom half. Most students are relatively well-off, and their numbers include plenty of racial minorities who receive preferential status independent of their economic circumstances.” The City University of New York is trying something new. “For all its imperfections, CUNY’s model of low tuition fees and high standards offers a different approach. And its recent history may help to dispel the myth that high academic standards deter students and donors. “Elitism”, Mr Goldstein contends, “is not a dirty word.”
Classical Music – The Next Innovation
Composer Osvaldo Golijov is “being hailed as classical music’s Messiah,” writes Andrew Clark. “The human fire of creativity today is not necessarily where people think it is. I don’t think it lies in the classical conservatoire system. Maybe Björk will produce the next masterpiece rather than someone from classical tradition. It’s a question of relevance to the world.”