A newly deciphered story by Rudyard Kipling is being published. “Kipling wrote the story in 1897 when he was 32, apparently as a draft introductory tale for the Stalky & Co volume. “Deciphering Kipling’s handwriting was fiendishly difficult. I doubt whether he himself could have read it. He was in such a hurry – his mind was running faster than his hand.”
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Looking At Beck’s Futures
This year’s Beck’s Futures Prize show is up. “The 10 shortlisted artists will split £40,000, while the overall winner with get an additional £20,000. There is a rumour going round the gallery that if he wins, Andrew Cross will spend the prize money on six and a half miles of model rail track. “No,” he says. “I’m going to buy a Saab.”
Musicians Demand: Equal Pay For Equal Play
Violinists in the Beethoven Orchestra in Bonn, Germany, are suing for a pay raise – on the grounds that they play many more notes per concert than their musical colleagues – the flutists, oboists, brass, etc…
The Next Great Voice? (Here Now)
Last year extravagant claims were made for tenor Salvatore Licitra – that he was the Next Great Voice. After hearing him then, Joshua Kosman wasn’t entirely convinced. Now he is. “In a glorious return visit Sunday night to Zellerbach Hall, Licitra delivered on all the most extravagant claims being made on his behalf. His singing was expansive, powerful and superbly shaped, and he wooed the audience with all the dewy charm of a fresh-faced young suitor.”
The Mysterious Mr. Taylor
“After 50 years of making dances, there’s still a dash of mystery about Paul Taylor. His sensibility remains complex and elusive, a particular American blend of physicality, naivete and wisdom that has left its mark on the international scene. His themes, music and tonal nuances remain, in all their variety, unparalleled and irresistible.”
On Demand – Self Publishing Unleashes Thousands Of New Books
Publishing on demand has resulted in a flood of self-published books. The three biggest self-publishing companies have produced a combined 47,000 titles since the late 1990s. “There’s an awful lot of people out there that have something to say.”
WalMart: 88 Cents A Tune
Apple’s iTunes store has been a big hit selling songs for 99 cents apiece. But WalMart is taking aim at the online download business – its new music download store charges only 88 cents. Anyone for 77 cents?
Mel Gibson On Top
Mel Gibson’s power in Hollywood has soared with the success of “The Passion of the Christ.” “Given the money Gibson stands to make from ‘The Passion’ and the media attention it generated, I’d be shocked if he wasn’t No. 1. In this minute, Gibson is the 800-pound gorilla on the Hollywood landscape. The real question, since there’s no possibility of a sequel, is just what’s down the road. That question is also on the mind of an industry reeling from the magnitude of Gibson’s unexpected success. In a town where money talks and jockeying for position on the power lists is an obsessive annual ritual, the director’s currency is higher than ever, Hollywood executives say.”
SARS, Dollar, Economy = Ontario Movie Production Decline
Ontario’s movie and TV production fell 11 percent in 2003. “Spending on film and television productions fell to $874.1-million last year from $984.5-billion in 2002. The peak occurred in 2000, when spending hit $1-billion. Last year, the amount of foreign production fell to $369.9-million from $574.4-million in 2002.”
Of Shopping Malls And Performing Arts Centers
The comparison isn’t too crass, writes Andrew Taylor. “The most striking thing about this comparison is how differently the savvy mall developer and most cultural facility developers speak about what they do. With the shopping mall, at least among these two visionaries, design is about the consumers and how they engage with their world — what draws them in, keeps them in, and lowers their barriers to purchase. With cultural facilities, we seem, instead, to focus on the producers in the equation — the symphony, theater company, road shows — and what they need to produce their seasons.”