Civic leaders in Las Vegas are trying to diversify the city. They want to build a new performing arts center. “With the billions of dollars in revenue the industry takes in every year, you would think it would be easy for gaming to foot the bill for the $125 million project. But that isn’t happening. The Performing Arts Center Foundation got the city of Las Vegas to donate five acres of prime downtown real estate to the project. But rather than assuming responsibility for bankrolling the project, the casino industry has found a way to pass it off to the car rental agencies which, unlike gaming, already are heavily taxed and naturally opposed to the hike.”
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The New (Old) Philosophy
“The new practical philosophers are bringing critical thinking directly to the people. They are translating the dense, ancient writings of Socrates, Plato, Lao Tzu and Confucius into modern lingo and accessible wisdom. They are writing self-help books based on philosophical principles — books sometimes mocked by academicians for their dumbed-down approach but bought by the same hordes who seek answers from meditation, Oprah, psychologists, Dr. Laura and Dr. Phil. Philosophy, its proponents say, is an alternative to all that. It’s a way to think for yourself and to find satisfying guidelines for living. It’s a way to analyze complex issues through the prism of values, ethics and character. Philosophy (which means love of wisdom) is a search for answers that have made sense through the ages.”
The Six Hour Symphony
A listener to a 6 1/2 hour Toronto performance of British composer Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji’s “Fourth Symphony For Piano Alone” is exhausted. Imagine what the pianist felt like.
The Anne-Of-Green-Gables Copyright Act
There is a proposal in the Canadian parliament to extend copyrights for previously unpublished works for 14 to 34 years for authors who died between Jan. 1, 1930 and Jan. 1, 1949. Why? “It’s called the ‘Lucy Maud Montgomery provision’ because the creator of the popular (and lucrative) Anne of Green Gables novels died in 1942, and it is her heirs who wish to retain control over her unpublished writings.”
Ou Est Jean-Paul Sartre?
Jean-Paul Sartre is getting a fresh look in France these days. But which Satre? “More than two decades after his death, French intellectuals are trying to reconcile the two Sartres. In the cafes of Paris, the question ‘Êtes-vous Sartrien?’ is once again being heard. Recently, a new biography of Sartre and several homages to his career have become best sellers in France. One of them, Bernard-Henri Lévy’s Sartre: The Philosopher of the Twentieth Century, has just been brought out here in English. What is taking place is a rehabilitation of sorts, and it isn’t hard to see what’s behind it.”
Dear Mr. King: Decline
Book columnist J. Peder Zane writes an open letter to Stephen King about his pending National Book Award. “I am writing to ask you to do something that only one in a million in your position would even contemplate. I am beseeching you to perform a truly heroic act that could influence the direction of American culture. Respectfully, I am urging you to decline this award.”
Dewey Sues Hotel… Who Knew?
Many people were surprised this week that a library-themed hotel in New York was being sued for using the Dewey Decimal System as a theme. Who knew someone actually “owned” Dewey? “The Online Computer Library Center is seeking damages of three times the profits the hotel has made since it opened. Dewey, a librarian, invented the Dewey Decimal Classification in 1874 and devoted his life to spreading it. Over time, it became the most widely employed cataloging system in the world, used today in 95 percent of public libraries in the United States.”
Trying To Save The Color In Color Photos
“All colour photographs fade. According to best estimates, the average colour print has a shelf life of about 200 years. Now, in Basel, Switzerland, the Cesar Foundation, chaired by Claudio Cesar, an American photography collector who runs a company that specialises in coloured glass is trying to reverse this deterioration.”
5000 Year-Old Mask Returned To Iraq Museum
One of Iraq’s National Museum’s most prized artifacts has been found and returned to the museum. “The 5000-year-old mask was “found after an intensive investigation by US troops and Iraqi police that led them to a farm just north of Baghdad. The Warka Mask was discovered buried under six inches of dirt, but has remained intact.”
WTC Sculpture Sold On eBay Arouses Protests
An official sculpture made from steel of the fallen World Trade Center has been sold on the internet, infuriating relatives of victims of 9/11. “The 5-inch sculpture – one of nearly 3,000 created from mangled steel beams – sold for $255 in an auction on the eBay Web site last week. It wasn’t immediately clear how one of the sculptures – distributed exclusively to victims’ families – got into the hands of the company that hawked it on eBay.”