While American TV has made little progress in converting to digital, the city of Berlin accomplished the digital transition in one fell swoop. “The lessons for American policymakers: The paralysis that grips the digital TV transition in the United States can be overcome, and taking away analog TV is not political suicide.”
Blog
The Schwarzenegger Effect: Politics and American Culture
When Arnold Schwarzenegger took the stage to give his first speech as governor-elect of California, he was introduced by none other than talk show host Jay Leno. Leno was careful to avoid making any overt statements of political support for Schwarzenegger, but his very presence at the event raises now-familiar questions about the nature of our increasingly entertainment-dominated society. With the line between “hard news” and softball entertainment programming all but gone from many American minds, the candidacy – and success – of Schwarzenegger is triggering alarm bells for many cultural observers.
Lawson Wins First Novel Award
A 57-year-old Canadian ex-pat was the surprise winner of this year’s Amazon.ca/Books In Canada First Novel Award. Mary Lawson, who lives in the UK, and whose first novel, Crow Lake, has garnered critical acclaim and made the New York Times bestseller list last year, beat out authors Christy Ann Conlin, Aislinn Hunter, Clint Hutzulak, Michael V. Smith, and Marnie Woodrow for the prize.
10 Years In, and Still In Search Of An Identity
“It has been called a godsend for the arts and a major disappointment, ‘the Lincoln Center of the West’ and ‘a conundrum in concrete.’ When it opened, in 1993, former San Francisco Mayor Joseph Alioto viewed the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts as a pallid substitute for what might have been. Today, composer Paul Dresher dubs the South of Market complex ‘a great institution and invaluable resource.'” So which is it? Well, it seems to depend entirely on who you ask, and what their perpective is on the Bay Area’s exceedingly diverse arts scene.
Canada Not So Keen On Governor Arnold
“The election of Arnold Schwarzenegger as California’s governor has sent a shiver through the Canadian film industry, which is worried the superstar and former body builder could flex his new political muscles to try to keep movie production in his home state,” possibly through a series of tax incentives. “Most [Canadian] provinces have tax credit systems that give incentives to produce films, so it would be hypocritical to condemn any U.S. states from considering similar incentives… But it would still be very damaging to the Canadian industry if California moved in this direction.”
Standoff In Charlotte
The Charlotte Symphony strike is a month old today, with no signs of movement from either the CSO management, or the musicians. The latest round of talks, which concluded Friday, left the sides seemingly as far apart as they were a month ago. Four sets of concerts have been cancelled, and starting this week, the strike will affect the city’s opera and ballet companies, which employ the CSO as a pit orchestra. However, the orchestra’s contracts with the opera and ballet say nothing about strikes, so the two groups are likely to hire the CSO musicians on a freelance basis.
Budget Cuts Slam Alabama Theater Groups
In the wake of an overwhelming vote against tax increases by the voters of Alabama last month, the state is making serious cuts to a budget that has already traditionally been stretched to the breaking point, and it appears that the state’s theater groups will be some of the hardest hit. The Alabama Shakespeare Festival, arguably the only arts organization in the state with a national reputation, will take a 75% hit in state funding, as will the Birmingham Children’s Theatre. Worse yet, legislators have announced plans to eliminate funding for ‘non-state agencies’ completely in the next budget.
Music As Diplomacy
Relations between Canada and the U.S. have been a bit frosty ever since the American invasion of Iraq last spring, and the usual diplomatic channels don’t seem to be having much of an effect on an increasing divide between the two populaces. So the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs is writing a $250,000 check to underwrite a two-week U.S. tour of the Ottawa-based National Arts Center Orchestra. “It might not repair the relationship between George W. Bush and Jean Chrétien, who are as chummy as two scorpions can be. But it will put Canada in the newspapers for a couple of weeks in a way the politicians can’t. If it’s an attempt to buy some good will, so be it.”
Atlantic SE Ballet Folds, Lawsuits To Follow
A bizarre situation is unfolding in Charleston, South Carolina, where a newly formed ballet company has folded unexpectedly, and its CEO has apparently skipped town, leaving unpaid bills and furious dancers and musicians in his wake. The Atlantic Southeast Ballet Company was founded 18 months ago, but performed only once in September 2003 before a financial crisis began to rear its head. “About noon Wednesday, Gordon Crowder, the artistic director and CEO of the nonprofit ballet company, left a message on the answering machine of the ballet orchestra’s conductor. The message said Crowder and his wife, Susanne Crowder-Puerschel, who is associate director of the ballet, ‘have no money and have gone on a little vacation.'”
But Will Anyone Use It?
Napster is back, and it’s legal this time. The embattles song-swapping service was shut down last year after the recording industry filed multiple lawsuits alleging copyright violation. The new Napster is owned by media company Roxio, which had no connection to the original service, and which is hoping that the notoriety of the Napster name will help it cash in on the growing consumer base desiring legal downloading options.