Vinyl records have been collectors’ items for years. But CDs? “Although a few die-hard vinyl specialists will complain bitterly about the fact, the silver disc has now established a significant place within the collectors’ arena. A large number of collectable CD albums and singles are included in the listings, and while their values cannot compete in general with those of the most collectable vinyl items, the fact they are there at all is a demonstration of the way which the market for collectable recorded music is continuing to develop.”
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File-Traders Fight Back
So the recording industry is going to track down music downloaders and sue them? Not for long. Software developers have been working away to make users of the file-sharing services anonymous… “Any technology that allows people to communicate is a step in the right direction,” Soto said. “This isn’t just about exchanging music, this is about the right to create technology and enjoy the right to privacy.”
Minister Of Culture Takes Time Off To Play Concerts
Brazil’s minister of Culture is Gilberto Gil – a big music star. But he’s taking a month off from his ministry job to go on tour in Europe boost his income. “The 60-year-old recording artist earns $2,900 (£1,700) a month in his government post but says this is not enough to maintain his standard of living.”
The First English Book To Top The French Best-Seller List
For the first time ever, an English book has topped the French best-seller lists. Yes, it’s Harry Potter, and the French version doesn’t come out until December. But “this did not stop more than 16,000 copies in English flying off the shelves in France, where it topped sales for all categories, not just children’s listings.”
Flooding A Thousand Years Of History
After decades of talking about it, planning and construction, the giant dam on China’s Three Gorges section of the Yangtze River has finally been erected. “Once completed, the dam would be the largest in the world—as high as a sixty-story building and as wide as five Hoover Dams. The official price tag was more than twenty-one billion dollars, roughly half of which would be funded by a tax on electricity across China.” And after evacuating hundreds of thousands of residents who lived along the river, the river rose in early June, flooding villages and thousands of years of history…
Baryshnikov: In Search Of A Repertoire
Mikhail Baryshnikov is on a solo one-man tour across America (raising money for his new dance center). “Why is Baryshnikov wasting time with mediocre choreography? One notes that he is stiff across the shoulders and neck, that the flexibility in his hips has diminished, that his jump lifts him inches, not feet, yet he is still Baryshnikov – still an incomparably beautiful mover. Still a riveting dramatic presence. Still in possession of the expertly timed look and musical phrasing, still capable of sweeping turns and wonderfully fluid motion. Part of the problem is that there is no repertory for the middle-aged ex-virtuoso. To continue performing at an age when few others would dare to step onstage, Baryshnikov has to have works custom-made…”
London Theatre In The Political Trenches
London’s theatres and playwrights are actively involved in political commentary, leading criticism of contemporary political leaders. There is “an acceptance of plays and playwrights as vital participants in a national dialogue, something Americans may well marvel at. And it’s not just contemporary playwrights whose voices speak from the opinion pages. An editorial cartoon in The Daily Telegraph showed a brooding Mr. Blair with the caption: ‘For God’s sake, let us sit upon the ground and tell sad stories of the death of kings. . . .’ That’s Shakespeare of course…”
Movin’ On, Not Sellin’ Out
Now that choreographer Twyla Tharp has a Broadway hit, is she selling out? “Sellin’ out might seem a more appropriate label for a career that has advanced so publicly from avant-garde to Broadway. Tharp is even publishing a self-help book on the art of creative thinking this autumn. Yet she hasn’t abandoned her pure-dance audience – her small-scale touring company appears at Sadler’s Wells this week – and it would be foolhardy to suggest to her face that Movin’ Out represents her art’s dumbing down. Nor does Tharp look like a woman basking in easy success…”
The Road To Better Canadian TV?
Finally, a comprehensive plan to improve and stabilize Canadian TV. But “statistics show that Canadians aren’t watching as much Canadian-made TV as they once did. ‘Well, you have to ask, what came first? Was it a decline in the amount of Canadian programs or a loss of interest? If there are fewer Canadian-made programs on the air, then there is less for the audience to watch. We have heard loud and clear that Canadian drama is in suffering. We have also heard that people want to see it.”
Denver’s Top-Heavy Theatre
Denver theatre is top heavy. There are a couple of large companies at the top, then… an absence of mid-size theatres. So what’s the problem? “The greatest weakness of the Denver theater community is its repetitively conservative fare. New and innovative works are the lifeblood of any artistic community, but in a down economy, familiar titles keep theaters open. More than a dozen companies have folded in the past 18 months – and none of them was producing standard fare.”