Movie documentaries are hot these days. “At a time when mainstream Hollywood movies have never been more defensively fortified against any leaks from the outside world, when everything seems spawned by computers, designed by corporate merchandisers and inspired by comic book fantasy, even the editorial manipulations of documentary come as a bracing, flesh-affirming alternative.”
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Philadelphia May Cut Museum Funding
The city of Philadelphia has a $227 million deficit it needs to cover. So the city’s mayor proposes cuts, including eliminating the city’s annual $2.25 million appropriation to the Philadelphia Museum of Art – “just as it and other stakeholders along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway are ramping up efforts to promote the Parkway as a major destination.”
The Meaning Of Games… Awww, Why’d You Have To Ruin It?
Interactive computer games have taken over; they’re a huge hit, and academics have begun studying them for what they mean for the larger culture. “They’re a form of interactive storytelling. There’s performance involved when you play the game. And they obviously have powerful visual elements. I think some games are, frankly, very beautiful.” Some gamers, though, find the attention absurd. “It is a sensibility that strikes some in the game world as off the wall. Trying to strap meaning onto entertainment sometimes can be ridiculous.”
No, No, We’re Really Trying To Help While We Sell Off Your Biggest Assets
Foundations want to sell a Lucien Freud and a Turner painting in a New Brunswick gallery – together the paintings could sell for $30 million. The foundations say they’re helping the gallery. “When asked then, why virtually the entire board of the Fredericton gallery resigned, he replied: “Clearly they don’t agree on the strategy.” The strategy, he explained, would be for the foundations to sell art that has been on long-term loan to the gallery — art they believe they own and that needs to be removed from a city of 48,000 and, in the words of one Canadian foundation member, made “more visible to the world.” From these proceeds “[we] would give [the Beaverbrook gallery] a substantial donation” to help offset what Lord Beaverbrook calls its “substantial deficit.” “We’re trying to be helpful to them,” observed Lord Beaverbrook, “but it’s not always easy to do that, it seems.”
Penny A Note – The Fair Way To Pay For Play
Violinists in a German orchestra want to get extra compensation for playing extra notes. Howard Reich likes the idea and proposes a compensation system that would be fair to every player in a symphony orchestra. It starts with one cent for every 64th note and two pennies for every quarter note. Rests, of course, count towards vacation time. “Musicians are responsible for counting the notes they play. This is an honor system, so remember, mistakes do not count. Follow the score as directed and we won’t have to levy fines for playing sharp or flat.”
Video Games Meet The Movies
Some $20 billion worth of video games were sold last year. Games now outsell movies, and games now look more and more like the movies. “The convergence between films and games makes sense for many reasons. Both special-effects-laden blockbusters and shoot-’em-ups rely on computer power, and as games consoles become more capable their output becomes ever more cinematic. Indeed, modern games based on “Star Wars” look even better than the original films, since today’s games consoles far outperform any special-effects technology available back in the 1980s. Costs have increased as the production values of games have improved: the typical budget is now $5m-8m.”
Humans – We’re Jaw-Dropping Smart (Literally)
How did humans develop such big brains? It could be because our jaws got smaller and weaker, says a new theory. “A mutation 2.4 million years ago could have left us unable to produce one of the main proteins in primate jaw muscles, the team reports in this week’s Nature1. Lacking the constraints of a bulky chewing apparatus, the human skull may have been free to grow, the researchers say.”
Words, Words, Words (And More Words) They’re All Here
The American National Corpus, an “annotated body of over 10 million words” is being released. “If the dictionary is like the drawer with bugs on cards, the corpus is the jungle. The ANC collects blocks of text from newspapers, books and conversations so words and phrases can be viewed in their natural habitat – that is, in an American English context.”
Monty Python: Looking On The Brighter Side Of Life
Monty Python’s “Life of Brian” is going to be released in theatres in the US again, following the success of Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ.” “Adverts will challenge Mel Gibson’s blockbuster with the lines ‘Mel or Monty?’, ‘The Passion or the Python?’ Distributor Rainbow said it hoped the film would ‘serve as an antidote to all the hysteria about Mel’s movie’. It was condemned as blasphemous before its original release, although Monty Python said it was intended as a spoof on Bible films and intolerance rather than Christianity.”
NY Artists Still Suffering Since 9/11
A new report on the condition of artists in New York since 9/11 says that “despite huge infusions of crisis-aid funding from both public and private sources, a new study finds that artists, including performing artists, are still suffering great economic misfortunes with very little end in sight.”