Two national newspapers ran full-page article last week accusing the British Council of depicting Britain as racist, violent and impoverished in a traveling exhibition. “British Council staff were flabbergasted because the exhibition has been mounted successfully since 2003 in Bangladesh, Malaysia and Indonesia. The reaction in there was positive for the UK, and it received lavish praise.”
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Welsh National Opera’s New Digs
For the first time in 60 years, the Welsh National Opera has a home of its own. “In its opening weekend at its new home, WNO threw down its gauntlet, offering two trademark shows: Traviata, a company show that foregrounds the talents of its chorus, and a new production of Berg’s Wozzeck from director Richard Jones and conductor Vladimir Jurowski, a partnership that has provided WNO with some of its most visionary stagings in recent years.”
The Gay Simpson
“In an episode titled “There’s Something About Marrying,” a longtime character on Fox’s 15-year hit – it was Marge Simpson’s sister Patty Bouvier, a closely held secret until the 8 p.m. broadcast – came out of the closet while Homer Simpson conducted dozens of same-sex weddings after small-town Springfield legalized the unions in a bid to increase tourism. As television’s longest-running situation comedy, “The Simpsons” is no stranger to hot-button social, religious and political issues, mocking wardrobe malfunctions, Hollywood liberals and born-again Christians, among other targets. But when a show as mainstream and popular as this takes on one of the most divisive issues in American society, it is certain to attract attention.”
Hunter S. Thompson (67) Kills Himself
Hunter S. Thompson shot and killed himself at his home in Aspen Sunday night. “Juan Thompson found his father’s body. Thompson’s wife, Anita, was not home at the time.”
Night Of the Living Dead (That’s Germany’s Music Biz)
Germany’s recording business is the third largest in the world. But it’s having problems, says a leading exec. “The problem the music industry has got is that they aren’t willing to accept that the classic way of doing business is over and out. So the music industry in its current form over here is pretty much in the state of a zombie.”
South African Film Wins Berlin
A South African reworking of the Carmen story has won the top prize at the Berlin Film Festival. “U-Carmen e-Khayelitsha, which moved Georges Bizet’s story to a township and translated the lyrics into Xhosa, was a surprise winner of the Golden Bear.”
Childs’ Play
David Childs has won some major commissions in recent years. But he is “no longer content to be the pet architect of the mainstream development world: he now longs for the kind of critical recognition that has so far eluded him. Increasingly, in seeking it he has begun to position himself as a worthy rival to the more daring architects from whom he once sought to distance himself.”
Rappin’ To The War
“If rock ‘n’ roll, the sounds of Jimi Hendrix, Jefferson Airplane and Creedence Clearwater Revival, was the music of American service members in Vietnam, rap may become the defining pulse for the war in Iraq. It has emerged as a rare realm where soldiers and marines, hardly known for talking about their feelings, are voicing the full range of their emotions and reactions to war. They rap about their resentment of the military hierarchy. But they also rap about their pride, their invincibility, their fallen brothers, their disdain for the enemy and their determination to succeed.”
Key To A Better Cleveland?
Are major development projects the key to a better Cleveland? “The U.S. Census Bureau has ranked Cleveland the poorest big city in the country. The city school dis trict, which says it needs a new tax levy desperately, is near a financial meltdown. When the econ omy was stronger a decade ago, Cleve land built the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum and new, major- league sports facilities. Now the city seems to have stalled, despite surprisingly strong pockets of new and renovated housing.”
Missing The Park, Resenting The Gates
Michael Kane doesn’t like Central Park with the Christo Gates in it. He’s “Gates hatin’: The park was better before. It was a peaceful oasis in a grid of metal and concrete. The spindly trees, the sweep of the lake, even the curvature of bridges, stone walls and steps blended organically into the backdrop. Now, in the interest of art, Christo bolts down jarring, squared-off frames (in orange, no less) throughout this vital sensory escape. So aesthetically insensitive. So rectangular. So lame.”