A truck driver in Los Angeles has been sentenced to six months in jail and ordered to pay $50,000 for stealing 55 Oscar statuettes shortly before this year’s Academy Awards ceremony. – BBC 07/07/00
Blog
MONEY WOES SQUEEZE TWO BROADWAY SHOWS
Two high-profile shows scheduled for Broadway have been scrambling for money this week. “The Visit,” a new musical starring Angela Lansbury and Philip Bosco set to open in the spring after an out-of-town tryout in Boston this fall had one of its main investors reduce their stake. Meanwhile, “Little Women,” which was to have opened in the fall at the Ambassador Theater, has been pushed back to the spring, while producers try to raise more money. – New York Post
THE 411 OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN LITERATURE
That E. Ethelbert Miller is a major mover in the African American literary world is undeniable. That he is considered by many to be an outstanding poet is indisputable. “I can’t think of an African American writer whose life I haven’t affected.” So why is Howard University – his alma mater – going out of its way to ignore him? – Washington Post
THE 411 OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN LITERATURE
That E. Ethelbert Miller is a major mover in the African American literary world is undeniable. That he is considered by many to be an outstanding poet is indisputable. “I can’t think of an African American writer whose life I haven’t affected.” So why is Howard University – his alma mater – going out of its way to ignore him? – Washington Post
THE SEARCH FOR KHAN
A Chicago attorney who has spent more than 40 years studying Genghis Khan, “claims to have found in an ancient book a vital clue that will take him to the tomb’s location” and will lead a team to look for it. The whereabouts of the Khan’s final resting place somewhere in Mongolia has been an enduring mystery. – Discovery
NO PAIN, NO GAIN?
Smithsonian Secretary Lawrence Small is in the middle of two more controversies – over the closing of a popular Woody Guthrie folk music exhibition, and over the possible confiscation of $16 million in research funds. In office only six months, Small has been controversial himself as he attempts a thorough shakeup of the institution. – Chicago Tribune
MUSEUM TAKES RISK, LOSES
After the heirs of one of its patrons decided to sell a Picasso to another buyer, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art sued the family for $18 million. Now a judge has thrown out the museum’s claim (and other donors and potential donors have got to be feeling a creeping chill). – San Francisco Chronicle
ART FOR ALL THE PEOPLE
On the tenth anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Museum of American History stages an exhibition complete with aids for those with disabilities. “The exhibit includes a telecaptioner for TV, a note-taker for the blind that uses the Braille alphabet, a CD for access to the Internet and two kiosks with computer monitors.” – Times of India (AP)
INFORMATION OVERLOAD
“Our ability to generate information has outpaced our ability to comprehend it. We’re driven to make sense of it all, to shape and sort and classify information into systems we can use. From the days of writing on cave walls to the creation of XML, we’ve tried to do a better job of comprehending the information at hand. The thing is, we’ve become so good at creating information that it’s piling up faster than promises in a political campaign.” – *spark-online
COMPETING RIGHTS
The hottest issue in the music business right now is how to protect recordings from being pirated. Music rights organization BMI announces a new international pact to track royalties, but ASCAP has its own international deal. Why don’t they work together? – Wired