“The Nobel Prize-winning novelist Orhan Pamuk took over a Turkish newspaper for a day and devoted Sunday’s front page to criticism of the oppression of artists in his native country.”
Tag: 01.08.07
So Mickey And Pluto Go Into A Bar…
“Plutoed” has been chosen the 2006 Word of the Year by the American Dialect Society at its annual meeting. “To ‘pluto’ is ‘to demote or devalue someone or something’ much like what happened to the former planet last year when the General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union decided Pluto did not meet its definition of a planet.”
Canadian Actors On Strike
“The union representing 21,000 of Canada’s film, television and radio workers went on strike Monday in a dispute that centres on how actors should be paid for performances shown on cellphones and the Internet.”
You Say New Zealand, I Say Australia
Australia’s Channel Nine is planning to count a New Zealand-produced drama as part of its Australian content quote. Aussie screenwriters are protesting. “After the High Court case the television stations had a tacit agreement that they wouldn’t go with New Zealand drama product. Something has changed. This is a fight for us: if one network gets away with it, what are the others going to do? We will be in the streets in February and March.”
Symphony Lawsuit Worries Arts Lobbyists
Last week, the Kansas City Symphony filed the suit against the state of Missouri, claiming the Legislature has shortchanged the Missouri Arts Council Trust Fund by $83 million since 1987. The organization is seeking to force lawmakers to come up with the funding.” But “nonprofit arts organizations across the state fear the suit may have alienated Governor Matt Blunt, who will make budget announcements Jan. 24.”