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Hayley Westenra, Teen Classical Sensation

Singer Hayley Westenra is now 16, and “has a £3 million, five-album deal under her belt, to which, this week, she added the fastest selling debut classical record of all time. Pure, her third album (though the first to be released internationally) sold nearly 20,000 copies last week, beating anything Charlotte Church has managed – or Pavarotti, Andrea Bocelli or Russell Watson, for that matter. She is also at number eight in the mainstream pop album charts, wedged between Daniel Bedingfield and the Black Eyed Peas.”

Boston’s MFA Alters Expansion Designs

Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts has made a series of design changes to its $425 million expansion plan. “Most dramatically, the crystal spine designed by architect Norman Foster will be lowered from 100 to 70 feet. Locals had raised concerns about shadows that would be cast on the Emerald Necklace behind the MFA. In addition, the museum has agreed to keep Museum Road open.”

Saving The Barnes? Or Plundering It?

It looks like the Barnes Collection will be moving to Philadelphia. “This plan was being painted as a boon to all parties: The Barnes would be saved, and Philadelphia would derive lucrative tourist income from the relocation. But you didn’t have to scratch too far beneath the surface to reveal a web of influence that indicates that what is really under way is a raid on a beleaguered, helpless art collection.”

Looking At All The Web

What if you could look at the entire world wide web all at once and make all the possible connections between information? “If this process was applied across billions of web pages—in effect, looking at the entire web at once—it would be possible to spot trends. A new film, for example, might have received terrible reviews from critics, but proved popular among middle-aged women. A new camera model might have some features that are popular, but others that users find too complicated. In short, there might be information hidden on the web that cannot be gleaned from any individual page, but becomes apparent when many pages are examined together. And that information could be of great commercial value.”

Finding Spirituality In Shopping

Where is the new spiritual center of Britain? A shopping complex. “Shopping — in the sense of the ceaseless search for the next object that will thrill for a moment and satisfy for a minute — is the main interest of people without purpose. The problem with the British is that they are not even very good at shopping, just as they are not very good at their other passion, football, to judge by the results. For to be good at shopping requires discrimination, which itself requires some mental cultivation. And it is precisely the lack of this that makes British shops (on the whole — of course, there are exceptions) so deeply dispiriting.”

Foul Language On TV is Up

The use of “foul language” on American TV is up dramatically in the past five years, says a new study by the Parents Television Council. “During the so-called ‘family hour,’ from 8-9 p.m., foul language increased by 94.8 percent between 1998 and 2002, the study found. It rose by 109 percent during the 9 p.m. hour in the same period.”

Old Time TV Characters Get New Lives

Vintage children’s characters are showing up on British TV in increasing numbers. “Given that nostalgia means nothing to children, the main targets for these programmes are mothers at home. In children’s television, particularly pre-school, the shows that kids watch are generally chosen by their parents. For us, it’s valuable to have programmes that parents recognise from their own childhood.”