Dubai, the second largest of the United Arab Emirates, is “the most spectacular and outlandish architectural experiment on the planet. The country is relentlessly, almost obsessively, building itself into significance. Under the auspices of the crown prince Sheikh Mohammed and the rest of the ruling Maktoum family, Dubai is being transformed from a blank canvas into an Islamic fusion of Singapore and Vegas.”
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David Robertson, Pied Piper
“Not long ago, the typical maestro would ride into town, bark Central European-accented commands at the orchestra, conduct some concerts attend a banquet, and move on. These days, music directors have an expanded job description: they must not only convey the repertory to an extant audience of music lovers but also try to explain it to the great silent majority who rarely go to concerts. A singular thing about David Robertson, who was born in Santa Monica, California, and has led th Ensemble Intercontemporain, in Paris, and the National Orchestra o Lyon, is that he actively enjoys his evangelical duties.”
The Rebirth Of LA’s Libraries
“Los Angeles is nearing the completion of a $317-million modernization program to build and renovate 63 branch libraries, finishing them on time and under budget. Librarians from as far away as Singapore and Sweden have come to see what the city has accomplished. This is the new face of public libraries in Los Angeles — versatile and thoroughly modern places that have fueled a 70% explosion in library usage over the last decade. It was not always so. For years, cramped and crumbling branches testified to a civic purpose sapped by riots, tax revolts and urban decay.”
Marches In Italy To Protest Budget Cuts
Tens of thousands of Italians took to the streets Friday to protest deep budget cuts proposed by the Berlusconi government. “Theaters in several cities staged simultaneous evening performances of ‘requiem’ funeral masses by Mozart, Verdi and Brahms ‘for the announced death of all cultural activities,’ due to reduced arts funding.”
Kosky: Fear And Loathing In Australia
Why are Australian arts in such bad shape? Director Barrie Kosky thinks he knows: “[There is a] terrible arts funding dilemma in Australia but that’s just the skin. Look at the muscle and the bone and the blood system, see what it’s actually about. It’s about fear. There has to be something inherently distrustful of art in the Australian psyche for there to be such problems. I don’t think it’s ultimately about money. To me, it’s fear of sadness, fear of going within yourself, fear of the heart of darkness.”
TV’s Brave New (On Demand) World
“Given the sheer number of on-demand options consumers will have at their fingertips in a couple of months — let alone a couple of years from now — maybe the Nielsen ratings for prime-time television just don’t matter anymore. Well, don’t weep for Nielsen Media Research just yet. Ratings do matter, and will continue to matter for some time, for the same reason that domestic box-office numbers matter to Hollywood movie executives.”
Movies Whenever (And However) You Want
The way we see movies is changing. “There will come a day when an event-type attraction — a new ‘Harry Potter’ — will be downloadable for viewing opening day on your adorable little screen on your expensive new cell phone. Such sugar-plum distribution visions are giving much of Hollywood a panic attack.”
Big Publishing’s Googlephobia
“Somehow the fact that the book business has chosen to take on Google doesn’t reek of same-old same-old. It’s startling, even mildly shocking, and more than a little revealing. For no matter how the publishers’ lawsuit ultimately unfolds, it has already provided the most vivid evidence to date of a seismic shift in the business Zeitgeist: from unalloyed Googlemania to gathering Googlephobia.”
Lit Looks For E-Books
“Literature, like all genres, is being reimagined and remade by the constantly unfolding extravagance of technological advances. The question of who’s in charge — the producer or the consumer — is increasingly relevant to the literary world. The idea of the book as an inert entity is gradually giving way to the idea of the book as a fluid, formless repository for an ever-changing variety of words and ideas by a constantly modified cast of writers.”
Canada Council Budget To Double
The Canadian government has decided to double the budget of the Canada Council, bumping it to $300 million per year. Canadian Heritage Minister Liza Frulla called it a “rebirth of the Canada Council” when she made the announcement in Montreal.