Category: issues

The new Cabinet-level official “will oversee government anti-piracy crackdowns and, among other things, train other countries about [intellectual property law] enforcement. The legislation also creates an FBI piracy unit and allows for the forfeiture of equipment used in large pirating operations.”

“Hope was fading last night that a white knight would materialize to bail out the struggling New York Sun, meaning today’s issue may be its last. The 61/2-year-old paper, known for a conservative, pro-Israel editorial slant and distinguished arts and culture coverage, had never posted a profit.”

“Singapore plans to spend S$8 million ($5.6 million) over the next five years to help fund commercial cultural projects such as a heritage television station and private museums. … The program ‘aims to be the tipping point for individuals and companies to embrace heritage as a business idea….'”

“Hollywood, with its depictions of cowboy lovers and lesbian neighbors, has done much to make gay men and women part of mainstream American life. … Yet for most gay actors, Hollywood is not a warm and fuzzy episode of ‘Will & Grace.’ Today, it is certainly more acceptable to be openly gay. But these actors must still answer wrenching questions: Just how candid do you want to be? Would you be happy appearing only in comedies, or being pigeonholed as a character actor? And what does the line ‘You’re just not right for the role’ really mean?”

“West End dramas and musicals are again the rage in New York, an American opera has a UK director – and a Brit is running the Museum of Modern Art… In fact culture, in the broader sense, blown in from England has never been held in higher esteem.”

Performing arts groups love to make a splash with season-opening galas and big-name guests early in the fall, but how do you sustain the public’s interest once the flourishes subside? “Increasingly, the season schedule itself is being re-imagined… The idea is to accelerate momentum by concentrating listener interest.”

With the collapse of Washington Mutual, Seattle’s cultural scene is nervously waiting to find out what will happen to all the dollars the bank was known to pump into the arts. “WaMu in 2006 gave nearly $50 million to organizations across the country, with about 16 percent of that total staying in Washington state.”

“Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) is expected to finish 2008 in the black – despite high gas prices, rainy weather and economic worries that may have kept fans away.” But 2009 is looking like a very tough year…

Whether or not tonight’s presidential debate in Mississippi goes forward as scheduled, there’s no chance that cultural policy will be even a blip on the radar screen of the participants. “The reason these questions won’t be asked is not because they are trivial. Quite the contrary. The debates, which aren’t really debates but elaborately scripted reality television shows, are designed to be trivial.”

“A day after Stephen Harper complained that the arts community is ‘a bunch of people at a rich gala,’ his wife has pulled out of a ritzy soiree at Ottawa’s National Arts Centre… The sold-out show will feature Pinchas Zukerman and the NAC orchestra – who perform for free – followed by Tony Bennett and his band. The gala is expected to raise well over $500,000 for the NAC’s National Youth and Education Trust.”