A San Francisco man’s “long-estranged mother died recently, leaving him $187,000 — and the first thing Don did when he got the money was cut a $10,000 check to the art gallery he has sat in front of for two years, panhandling and begging for free food. He got drunk to celebrate, then stumbled into the door of the Blue Room Gallery, walked straight up to owner Paul Mahder and handed him the check.”
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The Oprah Factor, Classics Edition
“A recent poll suggested that Americans are reading less. But since Oprah Winfrey picked Anna Karenina as her book club choice on May 31, Tolstoy’s Russian novel, rich with characters, relationships and details about blizzards, samovars and mazurkas, is flying off the shelves.”
Advising Singers To Sing (Not Talk Politics)
Jim Fusilli thinks Linda Ronstadt should stick to singing rather than politics. “It’s too early to tell whether this controversy will re-energize Ms. Ronstadt’s career. But after seeing about a thousand rock concerts, my feeling is that rock stars who discuss politics from the stage deserve whatever criticism they get–not for speaking their minds, but for assuming they might have something to say that we need to hear from them. I figure if you’re a pop musician and you feel the need to express your politics, go try to write the next Blowin’ in the Wind.”
Vancouver – Art Of The Sewer
Vancouver is sewer shopping. The city put out a call to artists to design manhole covers and got 643 proposals. “We thought we’d receive maybe 300 submissions. We didn’t know what to expect. At first you might think ‘Who wants art on sewer covers? How mundane.’ But man, it’s going to be great,”
Ahhh…A New Canadian Arts Minister Who Likes Arts
Canada’s arts community is cheering the appointment of Liza Frulla as the country’s new Heritage Minister. Sho has – unlike the previous arts minister – a demonstrated interest in the arts. “The professional clout is there; the personal interest is there — a reference to Frulla’s own description of herself as a ‘culture vulture’ and her eclectic background as, for example, the first female reporter ever to be allowed into the Montreal Canadiens’ dressing room, the first woman of Italian heritage to be elected to the Quebec National Assembly, and later, the host of a popular Radio-Canada TV show called Liza.”
Dummies And Idiots And Boneheads, Oh My
Who knew you could make millions by insulting your customers? “Today, the “For Dummies” series has 125 million books in print, with an estimated 68 million buyers in the United States proudly proclaiming themselves to be dummies. Now a global phenomenon, the books have been translated into 39 languages and are easily recognized by their black-and-yellow covers and the “dummy” character in geeky oversized glasses guiding readers along.”
V&A Fails To Get Lottery Money For Spiral
London’s Victoria & Albert Museum has failed to win Lottery funding for its proposed Daniel Libeskind-designed addition, dubbed the Spiral extension. “Plans to build the “crumpled” construction in the museum’s outside courtyard had faced strong criticism,” and museum officials say the Lottery failure puts the project in jeopardy.
EU Gives Consent For Sony/BMG Merger
The European Union has given its assent to a merger of music giants BMG and Sony. “The tie-up of the Japanese firm with the music arm of German media group Bertelsmann reduces the number of music majors from five to four.” The deal renews speculation that other mergers might be in the works. “EMI has twice failed to merge with Warner Music over the past four years.”
Moscow Conservatory Great Hall Is Falling Down
The famed Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory is crumbling. “With increased usage, a fundamental problem has been aggravated: underground rivers have weakened the foundations of the building, and they have cracked. A few months ago, the conservatory had to close some of the Great Hall’s balconies, as there was a danger of sections collapsing into the orchestra. Then there are the water pipes and electrical wiring…”
The Robot Librarian
“A group of robotics researchers at University Jaume I in Spain is working on a robot librarian which could deliver the promise of a helpful bot. The prototype has cameras, sensors and grippers so it can locate and collect a book. The hope is that one day teams of service robots could work in libraries.”