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Pulitzer Music Changes And The Comfort Zone

What’s wrong with changes in eligibility for the Pulitzer Prize in music? “On the face of it, the changes instituted are small. The Prize will no longer be for a musical work of “significant dimension,” as the Board seems to feel that such language has tended to prevent composers of shorter pieces from submitting their work. The press release also states that the changes are intended to broaden the types of works available for review to include jazz, musical theater, movie scores “and other forms of musical excellence.” Never mind that such works have actually been eligible since the last overhaul of the Music Prize’s rules, the real problem that I have is how this restated emphasis on broadening the scope of musical works under consideration bespeaks the essential discomfort that the Pulitzer Prize Board has with art music.”

Mexico’s Music Piracy Standoff

“Entertainment bootlegging is sweeping the globe, but nowhere has the landscape changed more quickly than in Mexico. An estimated six out of every 10 CDs sold are believed to be bootlegs, vaulting Mexico to the No. 3 spot worldwide, behind China and Russia. But unlike those nations, Mexico has a long-established commercial industry that is getting pummeled in the process.”

France’s Cerebral Star

Bernard-Henri Levy is a true French celebrity – a philosopher, author, journalist, filmmaker, diplomatic envoy, world traveler, political activist and all-around celebrity intellectual. “Levy’s omnipresence here reaffirms a French tradition that may seem odd in countries where philosophers don’t exactly dominate prime time. The French revere intellectual achievement and celebrate “grandeur,” a concept that combines excellence and glory. Not only do certain French authors and academics become institutions, Levy is the latest to show that they can be stars too.”

Venezuela’s Curious Art Boom

Venezuela has had a tough few years. Now – curiously – it’s on an art-buying boom. “In a country hit hard by economically devastating antigovernment strikes, a 2002 failed coup and capital flight that has amounted to billions of dollars, a curious phenomenon is unfolding: The affluent are seeking to shelter their fast-depreciating currency, the bolívar, in art, demonstrating once again that art can flourish in times of crisis, whether in Nazi-occupied Europe 60 years ago, in Communist Cuba in the 1990’s or in this politically charged South American country.”

Irish “Devil” Magazine Provokes Protests

“The publication of alleged ‘devil worshipping’ articles in the current issue of the arty-and-alternative magazine The Vacuum has caused a stir within Belfast City Council. The magazine features an interview with an exorcist and an article called I peed in church, and has been deemed blasphemous by certain city councillors. The fact that The Vacuum was granted £5,000 of Belfast Coluncil Arts Committee funding has no doubt added more fuel to the controversial ‘hell’ fire.”

The Human Computer

Microsoft, that imperialist of the information-technology world, has actually succeeded in patenting the human body as a computer network. What Microsoft is proposing is to use the skin’s own conductive properties to transmit the data needed to create a network. And the firm does not stop at people. A ‘wide variety of living animals’, it says, could be used to create computer buses, as they are known technically, in this manner.”