The recent controversy over an episode of the children’s program Postcards From Buster, which featured the main character learning about sugar mapling from a family with two women at its helm, has sent PBS scurrying for cover, and has conservatives once again suggesting that public broadcasting is incurably liberal. Caught in the middle of the firestorm is an 11-year-old girl from Vermont who was to be the star of the episode. The “immoral” family featured in the show is her family, the two mothers are her two mothers, and she doesn’t quite understand what is so objectionable about her demonstration of how to tap a maple.
Tag: 02.05.05
Ossie Davis, 87
Ossie Davis was far more than a great actor, although he certainly was that. Together with his wife, the actress Ruby Dee, Davis fought tirelessly to expand the opportunities available to black Americans both on the stage and off. He delivered Malcolm X’s eulogy, served as master of ceremonies for the 1963 Civil Rights March on Washington, and at the same time earned a reputation as one of the nation’s most accomplished and intellectual stage actors. Davis died this weekend in a Miami hotel.
Moscow Biennale Kicks Off Amid Sighs Of Relief
The Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art, a monthlong extravaganza designed to revive Russia as a center of modern art, launched last week, the first such festival to be held in Russia since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union. “Until the biennial actually opened, there were doubts that it would. Although the project was more than a year in the planning, its exhibitions were selected and installed in a desperate scramble, its organizers and curators having encountered innumerable obstacles, not the least the conservatism of Russia’s cultural bureaucracies.”
Talk About The Passion
One of the most frequent modern criticisms of classical music and the people who play it is the aloofness of the form; the grand, formal presentation of performers who don’t speak, don’t interact with the audience, and acknowledge accolades with only a stiff bow. Offering the counterpoint to that perception is cellist Yo-Yo Ma, who seems to delight in passing on his passion for music to the next generation of young performers, and thinks nothing of offering a starry-eyed 17-year-old a chance to play alongside him.
New Library Takes Wing In Minneapolis
A new Cesar Pelli-designed central library is rising in downtown Minneapolis, and residents are beginning to wonder about the thoroughly modern design, particularly how it will fit in in a city not known for its bold architectural tastes. Everyone’s first question: what exactly is that giant wing floating above the avenue? “Is it a giant letter opener? A paper airplane? A loading dock from Star Wars?” Actually, it’s just supposed to make you look at it. “The library lacks a grand entrance, so the wing acts as a spectacle that announces its presence.”
No New Opera For Melbourne
“Hopes that a large-scale opera company will be established in Melbourne as the result of an inquiry ordered by Premier Steve Bracks appear to have been dashed… Government sources say there will be no return to the days of the Victoria State Opera, which disappeared after facing financial collapse in 1996. It is believed the costs involved would be too great.”