Wal-Mart has returned about 3,500 copies of George Carlin’s new book, saying it hadn’t ordered it. The publisher begs to disagree (since he will take a loss on the books). “Publishing sources say it’s unlikely that Wal-Mart — known to skip books that might be deemed politically or religiously provocative — would have ordered the book in the first place. But it’s also unlikely that the books would have been shipped from the warehouse by accident. The most likely scenario is that someone ordered them, and then thought better of it. Retailers can return any unsold books to the publisher or distributor, at any time, at the publisher’s expense.”
Blog
“Reality” Show To Kill Buildings
A new “reality” show asks viewers to name their most hated piece of architecture. At the end of the season the building will be demolished. “The show’s announcement has triggered a paroxysm of designating. All over Britain, architects and civic associations have singled out for elimination buildings–generally works dating from the 1950s and 1960s–deemed “unworthy” of keeping company with the icons of modern architecture (such as Lord Foster’s recent “Gherkin Building”) or deemed eyesores.”
American Scholar On American Idol
The University of North Carolina at Charlotte is offering a new course studying the TV show “American Idol.” Beginning in January, students at UNCC will earn three credit hours for the class “Examining ‘American Idol’ Through Musical Critique.”
Chicago Symphony Likely On Strike Course
With less than 72 hours before their contract runs out, it looks likely that musicians of the Chicago Symphony will be going out on strike. “During the last two weeks key issues such as salaries, health care and pension costs and work rules have not been broached even in conversations between the negotiating committee and management representatives, let alone as serious talking points, sources say.”
Dancer Is New Cambodian King
A former ballet dancer has been sworn in as the new king of Cambodia. “”The new king has never held political office, but he was Cambodia’s ambassador to UNESCO, the United Nations’ cultural organisation, a post he left only recently.”
Eustis To Lead Public Theatre?
Who will be the next director of New York’s Public Theatre? “Oskar Eustis, the artistic director of the Trinity Repertory Company in Providence, R.I., is the leading candidate after an eight-month search, a process that included nearly 100 candidates and eventually involved interviews with about a dozen finalists.”
O’Neill Center Postpones Director Search
The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center in Connecticut has temporarily suspended its search for a new director and will concentrate for now on hiring someone to run its annual National Play Conference, “one of the most esteemed professional development programs in the nation.”
Alsop Slides Into Bankruptcy
England’s Alsop Architects has declared bankruptcy. “Alsop has been the driving force behind a plethora of media-grabbing projects, including the intended transformation of Barnsley into a semblance of a Tuscan hill town, the planned creation of a “mega-city” for 15 million people linking existing settlements across the north of England, and the rebranding of Middlesbrough with proposed blocks of flats shaped like Prada skirts.”
Guilty: Man Destroys Dali To Create Dali
A man has been found guilty of cutting up a Salvador Dali painting and using it to create a new piece of art. “John Peter Moore, a former private secretary to the artist, cut up a stolen 1969 Dalí painting, The Double Image of Gala, and used it to create what he claimed was a new Dalí.”
D.C. Curator Fired For Bad-Mouthing Public Art
“Curator Philip Barlow’s policy on automatically excluding PandaMania and Party Animals participants from consideration for Washington Project for the ArtsCorcoran’s 2005 Options exhibition has cost him his position. The survey of emerging Washington area artists will now be curated by Libby Lumpkin, an art historian and critic who lives in California. The move came after [the Washington Post] reported Sept. 23 that Barlow did not regard the city-funded sculpture projects as art… WPAC Executive Director Annie Adjchavanich issued a statement last week announcing Barlow’s resignation and condemning his stance as a violation of ‘basic ethical norms of curatorial practice.’ Barlow calls the statement a ‘complete distortion.'”