Friday August 30 WHILE DREAMS OF GOOG DANCED IN THEIR HEADS: Evidently oblivious to the Guggenheim’s sagging financial fortunes, the City of Edinburgh is trying to lure the museum into building a branch there. Representatives from Gehry & Associates have already been to town to assess site feasibility “It would add something to a rich … Continue reading “Visual: August 2002”
Friday August 30 PRECARIOUS PROMOTION: This year’s Edinburgh Festival featured a late-night series of top performers, with tickets going for £5. It was a big success at attracting new audiences. But the experiment won’t be repeated because of the cost. So how do you get people to try the arts? “In Britain – in Scotland … Continue reading “Issues: August 2002”
Wednesday August 28 GANGING UP ON JK ROWLING (AND OTHER STORIES): Author JK Rowling is celebrated for her rags-to-riches story – that she wrote the first Harry Potter book in a coffee shop while on welfare. It’s a classic tale – “too good, it turns out. Yes, Rowling was a single mother with a bad … Continue reading “People: August 2002”
Wednesday July 31 YOUR RIGHTS THREATENED: US lawmakers are seriously considering legislation that would allow movie and music companies to hack into personal computers to check for content. “Maybe this grotesque legislation will die the death it deserves, once sensible people understand the consequences. But if it or something similar goes through, its passage will … Continue reading “Media: July 2002”
Wednesday July 31 BRITISH LIBRARY CLOSED BY STRIKE: The British Library was closed for the first time in its history by a strike Monday. “The 24-hour closure was over the library’s refusal to raise a 4% pay award to staff. These include the library assistants – some of them earning only £10,000 to £15,000 a … Continue reading “Publishing: July 2002”
Monday July 1 THE MOVIE SUMMER: The summer movie season is beating all box office records. So far, from May 2 to June 23 box office is up 27.5% over last year. “A key factor this summer is that the hit films are generally playing stronger and longer, unlike last year, when spectacular first weekend … Continue reading “Media: June 2002”
Friday May 31 COURT – LIBRARY FILTERING ILLEGAL: A US federal court has ruled that a law forcing public libraries to install filtering software on computers available to the public is unconstitutional. The filters are meant to screen out pornographic websites, and the law required libraries to use the software or see their federal funding … Continue reading “Issues: May 2002”
Friday May 31 THE DEATH OF INDEPENDENT FILM? “Making movies is not the same as it used to be. The golden era of ’80s and early-’90s American independents, in which directors like Jim Jarmusch, John Sayles, and Good Machine-nurtured auteurs such as Hartley, Lee, and Todd Haynes flourished, is no longer possible. Where there once … Continue reading “Media: May 2002”
Tuesday April 30 JAZZING UP THE LOTTO: The British lottery has financed an astonishing boom of construction projects in the arts in the past few years. But the lotto has seen a £500 million dropoff in sales in the past four years. So the managers are planning to rename the lottery in an attempt to … Continue reading “Issues: April 2002”
Tuesday April 30 ANIMATED ENTHUSIASMS: Last year’s biggest-grossing movie was an animated feature. More recent top ten movie grosses show three animated films on the list. Animation is hot. Sydney Morning Herald 04/30/02 TV PROGRAMMING – JUST PICK ONE: Four out of five TV series fail. And fail fast – sometimes in just a few … Continue reading “Media: April 2002”
