Did you get flowers for Vanentine’s Day? Where’d they come from? “Our blooms are more likely to have been raised in high-altitude flower factories in Ecuador or Colombia, dunked in chemicals, flown to Miami and distributed to wholesale markets around the country. A rose cut on a Monday morning in the shadow of a snow-capped volcano might find its way to a Manhattan florist the following Friday, and then be good for a week or more with a little care.”
Tag: 02.11.07
How The Major Recording Business Is Dying
“We figure that the value of CD sales will be 50% less in three years than it is now. We predict digital growth of 25% per year, but it is not enough to replace the loss from falling CD sales. By 2010, we will be 30% behind in terms of revenues. We have to reinvent. We are running our businesses like it is 1982 … a model that is so out of date, it’s not true.”
View Of Homeless From A Cadillac
Owners of a southern California gallery plan a show that involves giving patrons signs made by the homeless and having them stand on Main Street. “To gather signs for the ‘Sidewalk Angel Project,’ the couple drive around Santa Ana, jump out of their black Cadillac when they see a homeless person holding a sign and approach cautiously. Many of the homeless are reluctant to talk or part with their signs, which they say have brought them luck.”
SF Street Artist Takes A Walk (Out Of Town)
A well-known San Francisco street performer quits the city, saying it’s changed. “When the $460 million expansion of the Westfield San Francisco Centre is positioned as a major cultural event, and the downtown landscape is redefined by a Four Seasons Hotel and the Apple store and other high-end establishments, it’s inevitable that a lot of hand-to-mouth artists like Edward Jackson get forced out.”
Walk Out Over The Grand Canyon
“When the cantilevered structure opens to the public next month, it will be the most conspicuous commercial edifice in the canyon. And, if the tribe’s plans come to fruition, the Skywalk will be the catalyst for a 9,000-acre development, known as Grand Canyon West, that will open up a long-inaccessible 100-mile stretch of countryside along the canyon’s South Rim. The cost of the Skywalk alone will exceed $40 million.”
TV Station Asks Audience To Be Reporters
A Santa Rosa TV station ditches its news staff and turns to the community for news. “Over the next few months, the station’s management plans to ask people in the community — its independent filmmakers, its college students and professors, its civic leaders and others — to provide programming for the station. Will they be paid? That’s being worked out.”
Bombarded By Ads (But To What Effect?)
Researchers estimate that the average city dweller is exposed to 5,000 ads per day, up from 2,000 per day three decades ago. So what exactly do advertisers expect to get for all this messaging?
Less Sleep = Fewer Brain Cells
Researchers have found that rats who are sleep deprived produce fewer brain cells. “They found those who missed out on rest had higher levels of the stress hormone corticosterone. They also produced significantly fewer new brain cells in a particular region of the hippocampus.”
A Revitalized Scottish Broadcaster?
If they win the next national election, the Scottish National Party has big plans for the national broadcaster. “The Nationalists want to see much more Scottish programming on BBC Scotland, starting with a locally produced Six O’Clock News.”
Mary J Blige Wins Three Grammys
The Grammys kicked off with a retro feel on Sunday as the recently reunited Police opened the show with their classic “Roxanne,” Tony Bennett and Stevie Wonder beat out huge new songs like “Promiscuous” and “Crazy” with a remake and the veteran Red Hot Chili Peppers nabbed three trophies to emerge the early leader.