“Will National Poetry Month never end? I can’t thing of any trumped-up, tricked-out, fake ‘celebration’ that has done more to rekindle my latent disdain for poets as worthless malingerers angling for the main chance… As if on cue, Hallmark Cards just dumped samples on my desk from Maya Angelou’s ‘Life Mosaic’ line of Mother’s Day kitsch. Hallmark is peddling gift cards bedecked with empty little maxims penned by the prolific hack and landfill-ready gifts such as a microwave safe, ceramic ‘Giving’ bowl, stomach-churning sentiment included: ‘Gather around the table to pass this bowl of nourishment. And to serve a portion of healing … .’ What happened to this woman’s dignity?”
Blog
Piatigorsky at 100
“Among those whose music-making produced a level of beauty, insight and involvement practically alien to the present, cellist Gregor Piatigorsky will always be regarded highly.” But with the decline in classical record sales and a general ’embrace-the-new’ attitude in classical music, how many listeners really know Piatigorsky anymore? However many it is, the number should increase soon. Piatigorsky would have turned 100 this month, and several Baltimore-area arts organizations are celebrating with concerts, exhibits, and remembrances from family, friends, and colleagues.
Museum Attendance Surges Back To Normal In NY
After a slump after 9/11, museum attendance in New York has returned to normal or increased, according to the Association of Art Museum Directors in New York. The report says that “museums have mostly been able to maintain, or even increase, their pre-9/11 staffing and programs.”
Edmonton’s Other Orchestra Evolves
Metamorphosis, an Edmonton-based chamber orchestra, has had a good first season after being born from the ashes of the relationship between the Edmonton Symphony musicians and their management. Grzegorz Nowak, the conductor who was deposed from the symphony’s music directorship only to announce that he would stay in town and start his own orchestra, has backed off his original brash plans of competing directly with his old employer, and crafted a much-needed niche ensemble. In fact, starting next season, the smaller group, which will be renamed the Canadian Chamber Orchestra, will be playing its concerts at the same hall occupied by the Edmonton Symphony.
How Cheap Does Music Have To Be?
Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the company’s long-awaited new music downloading service this week, with a single song going for 99 cents. That’s a good price, but many observers are already saying that it isn’t nearly good enough to lure consumers away from peer-to-peer file swapping services, where they can get the same songs for free. There seems to be no shortage of opinions on what the proper price of a song really is, but no one really knows how Apple will fare, since their unique non-subscription-style download service hasn’t really been tried before.
A Legal Right To Be A Thoughtless Fool
Owners of an Irish movie theater have been informed that they are breaking national communications law by employing a signal blocker to disable their patrons’ cell phones during screenings. The theater had installed the blocker as a response to an epidemic of moviegoers sending and receiving text messages on their phones, or even talking on them, while a film was playing. But as it turns out, such devices are illegal even to possess, and the use of one to block wireless transmissions carries a hefty fine.
Delayed Satisfaction
There are lots of reasons to embargo releases of books. “But more and more, embargoes are about creating hype for books that would have gone unnoticed. Maybe, as publishers will tell you, controlling the publicity increases awareness and sales. But it seems to me that, like all weapons of mass dissemination, embargoes should be used very, very sparingly.”
Critics Or Muggers?
Bad reviews suck. Particularly bad book reviews. “There’s no appeals process. No way to defend yourself in the court of public opinion, nor to question the critic’s qualifications. Whatever they say, you eat. Period. Of course, if you happen to be named Clancy or King, or even Updike, a bad review doesn’t matter so much, because you’ve already got an established audience. But for most writers, the plain cold fact is that critics determine how your work is regarded by most of the world. Consider the math: Tens of thousands of people read the reviews in major newspapers. Only a fraction of that number ever read the books being reviewed. If anything, writers suffer bad reviews more deeply than other artists.”
Recording Industry Settles Downloading Lawsuits With Students
A recording industry trade group says it has settled lawsuits it brought against four college students for music downloading. Settlements range from $12,000 to $17,500 each, with four college students the industry claimed had been operating illegal song-swap networks on campuses.
Great Germans – No Hitler Allowed
German TV is adapting the BBC’s “Great Britons” poll to choose a “Great German.” But “in Germany, the voting procedure has been modified to stop Hitler or any his followers being included. A panel of experts will nominate 250 people. The public will then be invited to chose 50 more before the final voting begins.”