So, as it turns out, all the hype and overwrought speculation that preceded the unveiling of the latest book in the Harry Potter series turned off kids around the world, who collectively yawned at the carefully orchestrated release. […pause for effect…] Hah. We kid. The durn thing’s already sold several million copies, and that’s only the beginning. Bookstores were crammed full, and the midnight release parties were as swinging as ever. Basically, it’s Harry’s world, and we’re just living in it.
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Is Harry A Threat To Christianity?
The debate over the morality of Harry Potter continues unabated in religious circles. Last week, the Pope made headlines when a letter he wrote as Cardinal Ratzinger was released, including a passage in which he called the books a series of “subtle seductions [that] erode Christianity in the soul before it can even grow properly.” Still, other Christian authorities insist that the books are morally upstanding, and reinforce religious tenets in much the way that the works of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien did. “The magic jump-starts your interest, but what the books are really about is values.”
Dancing With Your Tongue
Can dancing the flamenco help students learn a second language? One dance troupe thinks so, and is instructing New York teachers in the fundamentals of the dance for just that purpose. “If the connection between flamenco and English as a second language seems less than obvious, it may help to think about how people communicate when they do not speak the same tongue. They use gestures and facial expressions. As students learn, they memorize the rules of the new language, including intonations and transitions. Eventually, they let go and improvise. The same elements – nonverbal clues; shifts in rhythm, speed and phrasing; and the interplay of rules and inventions – are fundamental to flamenco.”
Alsop To Baltimore
Marin Alsop, the most prominent female conductor in the world, finally has a major American orchestra to call her own. According to sources, the board of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra will vote next week to approve Alsop as its next music director, replacing Yuri Temirkanov. Alsop has long been rumored to be in line for a major American directorship, and is already one of Britain’s better-known conductors.
Potter Smashes Book Sales Records In First 24 Hours
The new Harry Potter book sold an astonishing 6.9 million copies in its first 24 hours, smashing the record held by the previous Potter release. “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” averaged better than 250,000 sales per hour, more than the vast majority of books sell in a lifetime.
But Not Everyone’s Happy…
News of Marin Alsop’s appointment is not sitting well with the musicians of the Baltimore Symphony, who took the unusual step of issuing a public statement decrying the board’s decision to end its music director search. All seven musicians serving on the search committee favored continuing the search, and at least one prominent board member is publicly siding with them, but the orchestra’s president says that the musicians will have the chance to share their views before the board votes to confirm Alsop. Nonetheless, the musicians have apparently been barred from speaking to board members in advance of the Tuesday confirmation meeting.
Process Story
AJ Blogger Drew McManus says that the Baltimore search process appears to have been designed to exclude, or at least trivialize, the views of the orchestra’s musicians and, regardless of the merits of Marin Alsop as a conductor, a botched process is a sign of an organization in trouble. Furthermore, hiring a music director so early in the process is highly unusual for a major orchestra, largely because it is difficult to correct a hiring mistake without considerable public fallout.
Gangsta Rap-As-Cockroach
Gangsta rap is back and the violence has escalated along with record sales. “Gangsta rap is like a cockroach infestation: Shining a light on it can cause some scurrying, but curbing it is a Sisyphean task. Targeting the corporate powers-that-be boldly ignores the practical here-and-now of the situation: Like it or not, children do listen to 50 Cent’s verbal gunplay and gossip about his real-life gunplay. While adults are busy battling companies, youths are soaking up the good, the bad and the ugly of hip-hop culture.”
Is Prized Tuscan Marble Worth The Price Of A Mountain?
A mining company’s plans to destroy a Tuscan mountain crest to get at its prized marble has caused a furor. “The plan has pitted environmentalists against trade unions and local authorities, who argue the stone from Monte Altissimo in the Apuan Alps is needed to protect jobs. But the controversy also sets contemporary artists and designers against art historians who treasure the mountain, which served as one of Michelangelo’s most celebrated, if frustrating, quarries.”
Classically Speaking, Why Are We So Stuck In The Past?
“Overall, there are more quality composers working today than in any given year of the 18th or 19th centuries. Those eras overflowed with rote. Half the reason Beethoven remains so revered is because of how ho-hum many of his contemporaries were. But we don’t see it that way. We still mostly like the oldies. Why then, did classical music, especially in this country, take such a different course from the other arts, with audiences generally disconnected from contemporary creations?”