“Detained artist Ai Weiwei seems to be in good physical health but mentally conflicted and tense, his wife has said after seeing him for the first time in six weeks.”
Category: today’s top story
Romance Publishers Demonstrate The Future Of E-Books
“No other readers have embraced the digital experience more readily than the insatiable consumers of romance and its numerous subgenres. Together with the publishers that serve them, they are busy showing the world the first plausible new model of 21st-century book marketing.”
Yale Announces Free Online Access To Museum, Library Image Collections
“Yale University officials announced yesterday that the school intends to be the first in the Ivy League to offer free online access to digital images of millions of objects housed in its museums, archives, and libraries.”
Library of Congress Launches ‘National Jukebox’
“The new website provides access to more than 10-thousand historical recordings for free on a streaming-only basis – no downloads. It covers the first quarter of the twentieth century and includes music, poetry, political speeches and other spoken word recordings.”
James Cuno Named Getty President
“Cuno, 60, has led the Chicago Art Institute through its most ambitious expansion in its 130-year history. He will take over the vast Getty Trust, which consists not just of the museum — its most public face — but a grant-making foundation, a conservation institute and a scholarly institute.”
Tony Kushner’s Honorary Degree Restored By CUNY Board
“The trustees board of the City University of New York (CUNY) brought to an end an embarrassing row over freedom of expression by voting unanimously to award an honorary degree to the award-winning playwright Tony Kushner.”
How Much Would You Pay For Access To Every Book In The World?
“How would this change the way we read? If I haven’t laid down money for a particular book, would I feel less obligated to stick it through to the end? I’d probably do a lot more dipping and diving. I’d be quicker to say, ‘this isn’t doing it for me — what else is on’?”
Arthur Laurents, 93, Playwright And Director
He was an “irascible, enduring Man of the Theatre who wrote plays and screenplays and enjoyed a significant career as a director – but who made his lasting mark as the librettist to two landmark musicals, West Side Story and Gypsy.”
Turner Prize 2011 Shortlist: ‘Humbrol Enamels Versus Bath Bombs And Lipstick’
“There may be two painters on this year’s Turner prize shortlist, but traditionalists should pause before sighing with relief. One of them paints landscapes in the kind of enamel paint used for decorating model trains and aeroplanes; the other counts lipstick, bath bombs and bronzing powder among her unorthodox materials.”
NY City Ballet Reaches Agreement With Dancers’ Union
“Lengthy and tense contract negotiations between the New York City Ballet and its dancers reached a resolution at 12:30 a.m. EDT Tuesday. The dancers had been working without a contract since August. The new two-year contract represents a victory for the company [management] on one salary matter: no pay increases for the current year.”