In the 100th anniversary of George Orwell’s birth, there is still much disagreement over the man and his work. “Few would assert that Orwell the man is personally guilty of all the obtuseness that he is invoked to vindicate. Equally untenable is the position that Orwell was not responsible for his life and work. He did things, he wrote things, that can’t be explained away as objects of misinterpretation.”
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Disney – Half As Spectacular As Bilbao?
David Littlejohn is not very generous in his praise for Frank Gehry’s new Disney Hall. “The result is about half as spectacular as Mr. Gehry’s 1997 Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, with which it will inevitably be compared. Bilbao has a far more impressive location, equal excitement from all directions, and more dramatic interior spaces that visibly reflect its exterior.” Still, “it is one of the most agreeable modern concert halls I have been in (though one heard complaints about steep stairs and tight legroom), reminiscent of Alvar Aalto’s classic halls, and Mr. Gehry’s most humane interior space.”
Art Carney, 85
Actor Art Carney, forever famous as The Honeymooers’ Ed Norton, has died at the age of 85. “I love Ed Norton and what he did for my career. But the truth is that we couldn’t have been more different. Norton was the total extrovert, there was no way you could put down his infectious good humor. Me? I’m a loner and a worrier.”
Madonna, The Literary Experience
“For once even Madonna seems uncertain how her new vocation as scribe and teacher fits into or builds on her pop identity. The awkwardness is palpable in Madonna’s second children’s book, Mr. Peabody’s Apples, a cautionary tale about ‘the power of words’ based on a kabbalah fable. Madonna has always demonstrated great faith in the power of word of mouth, but she’s never been what you might call articulate—methinks ‘Express Yourself’ was not about writing sonnets. But Apples tests the power of words carefully chosen: not in the text, which is dull, uninspiring, and poorly punctuated, but in the marketing that surrounds it.”
Major Archaeological Find In Vietnam
Archaeologists say they have discovered a 1,300-year-old citadel in Vietnam. “This is the biggest and most important archaeological find in Vietnam’s archaeological history.”
Iraqi Artifacts Returned
Hundreds of artifacts have been returned to the Baghdad Museum. Two important pieces were found in a field and returned. “It is another bright day in the life of the Iraqi museum. We have two masterpieces not only of the Iraqi museum, but also masterpieces of the mankind. So, it is a great day today”
Serota: Why Spend Millions On “Saving Art?
Perhaps it’s a mistake for the UK to spend millions of pounds trying to “save” art from being exported from the country. “Sir Nicholas Serota said it was not necessarily better to buy pieces to display in the UK rather than abroad just because they were already here. Speaking at an acquisitions conference, he suggested more should be spent on 20th Century and contemporary art.”
Sucking Up To Guinness
Today, the Guinness Book of World Records will sell its 100 millionth copy. In honor of the occasion, Washington Post columnist Gene Weingarten is making an attempt to get himself into the book with “the shortest bylined newspaper story ever written.” (For the record, his blatant suck-up is 1/56 the length of this blurb about it.)
The Irony Of Success
“Space for a writer is sometimes the most precious of commodities. It’s possible, in fact, that if a certain government official in Tanzania hadn’t been so pig-headed, Moyez Vassanji would be practising electrical engineering in that country instead of having to deal with the emotional effects of winning this year’s Giller Prize.”
No More Fund Drives? Dream On.
So, now that NPR has $200 million of the late Joan Kroc’s money, it can stop holding those awful on-air beg-a-thons, right? Wrong. While fans of the public radio network may be dreaming ecstatically of what that kind of money could do for listeners, NPR execs are hoping that, if anything, the Kroc gift will inspire more large donations. There is also some fear of a backlash: NPR is not popular with the Republicans currently in charge of Congress, and many would like to see the network’s public funding eliminated.