Tuesday April 30 WHERE BOOKS DO BUSINESS: Publishers and bookstore owners gather in New York for BookExpo America, the industry’s annual confab. The gathering is “the place where the publishing industry most clearly demonstrates the obsession with merchandise and marketing. Publishers often upstage each other with spectacles that are a far cry from the solitary … Continue reading “Publishing: April 2002”
Tuesday April 30 ANOTHER SOTHEBY’S SENTENCE: A week after ex-Sotheby’s chairman Alfred Taubman was sentenced to jail and a $7 million fine, Diana Brooks, the auction house’s ex-CEO was sentenced to “three years probation for her role in conducting a price-fixing scheme with the rival auction house Christie’s. Mrs. Brooks, 51, was also ordered to … Continue reading “People: April 2002”
Friday March 29 TV FEEDS VIOLENCE: A new study links teens watching TV with a propensity for violence later in life. “The findings show that of children who watch less an hour of television a day at the age of 14, only 5.7% turned to violence between the ages of 16 to 22. For those … Continue reading “Media: March 2002”
Friday March 29 BRITISH MUSEUM ADMITS SALES – AN EMBARRASSMENT: The British Museum has admitted selling off valuable Benin bronzes during the 1950s and 60s. “The museum insisted that its claim to inalienable ownership of the bronzes and other artefacts such as the Parthenon (Elgin) marbles was not affected. Until now its standard response to … Continue reading “Visual: March 2002”
Thursday February 28 DON’T PICK ON THE ARTS: The Atlanta City Council, facing budget shortfalls, proposed cutting funding for arts groups. But after a spirited council meeting at which arts supporters rallied to speak against the cuts, funding restored almost to 2001 levels. Atlanta Journal-Constitution 02/27/02 LEARNING THROUGH POP CULTURE: Does “teaching” popular culture dumb … Continue reading “Issues: February 2002”
Thursday February 28 HANDS OFF OUR BUSINESS! With the US Congress threatening to write legislation requiring copy protection technology in new digital devices, tech companies pledge to come up with a standard of their own. The movie industry is worried that new devices will allow consumers to rip off their products. Wired 02/27/02 Wednesday February … Continue reading “Media: February 2002”
Friday February 1 SEE KOREAN: Since 1967, Korea has had a film quota that requires local theaters to screen Korean films at least 146 days a year. The local film industry has been doing well, so now the government wants to drastically reduce the quota. Filmmakers are protesting. Korea Herald 02/01/02 BBC RADIO AT RECORD … Continue reading “Media: January 2002”
Thursday January 31 STICKING TO THE TRAIL: How to have a successful career as a writer? Novelist/playwright Michael Frayn says: “The only advice that I could think of giving to a young writer is to write the same thing over and over again, changing things very slightly and going on delivering it until people accept … Continue reading “Publishing: January 2002”
Monday December 31 FUSS OVER WORDS: The new Memphis Central Library opened in November. Outside the library dozens of famous quotations were inscribed in stone, among them “Workers of the world, unite!” “This phrase from the Communist Manifesto caught the eye of two county commissioners and a city councilman, and in these days of heightened patriotism … Continue reading “Visual: December 2001”
Monday December 31 POET IAN HAMILTON, 61: “Highly regarded British poet and biographer Ian Hamilton, whose unauthorized life of J.D. Salinger was blocked by the U.S. Supreme Court, has died at the age of 61.” Nando Times (AP) 12/30/01 EDWARD DOWNES, 90: Edward Downes, famous to millions of opera lovers as the host of weekly Texaco Opera Quiz … Continue reading “People: December 2001”
