After the 1991 Gulf War, a list of artifacts stolen from Iraq museums was compiled – about 2000 objects were missing. “Eleven years later, experts say, no more than half a dozen of the pieces have been tracked down. Many others are presumed to have been traded away through a thriving international market in antiquities. The poor record of returning artifacts lost after the gulf war suggests the daunting obstacles that museum officials and police investigators face as they commit to finding items recently sacked from the National Museum of Iraq in Baghdad and other sites.”
Tag: 05.01.03
Hallmark & Angelou: A Match Made In The 9th Concentric Circle
“Will National Poetry Month never end? I can’t thing of any trumped-up, tricked-out, fake ‘celebration’ that has done more to rekindle my latent disdain for poets as worthless malingerers angling for the main chance… As if on cue, Hallmark Cards just dumped samples on my desk from Maya Angelou’s ‘Life Mosaic’ line of Mother’s Day kitsch. Hallmark is peddling gift cards bedecked with empty little maxims penned by the prolific hack and landfill-ready gifts such as a microwave safe, ceramic ‘Giving’ bowl, stomach-churning sentiment included: ‘Gather around the table to pass this bowl of nourishment. And to serve a portion of healing … .’ What happened to this woman’s dignity?”
Piatigorsky at 100
“Among those whose music-making produced a level of beauty, insight and involvement practically alien to the present, cellist Gregor Piatigorsky will always be regarded highly.” But with the decline in classical record sales and a general ’embrace-the-new’ attitude in classical music, how many listeners really know Piatigorsky anymore? However many it is, the number should increase soon. Piatigorsky would have turned 100 this month, and several Baltimore-area arts organizations are celebrating with concerts, exhibits, and remembrances from family, friends, and colleagues.
How Cheap Does Music Have To Be?
Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the company’s long-awaited new music downloading service this week, with a single song going for 99 cents. That’s a good price, but many observers are already saying that it isn’t nearly good enough to lure consumers away from peer-to-peer file swapping services, where they can get the same songs for free. There seems to be no shortage of opinions on what the proper price of a song really is, but no one really knows how Apple will fare, since their unique non-subscription-style download service hasn’t really been tried before.
A Legal Right To Be A Thoughtless Fool
Owners of an Irish movie theater have been informed that they are breaking national communications law by employing a signal blocker to disable their patrons’ cell phones during screenings. The theater had installed the blocker as a response to an epidemic of moviegoers sending and receiving text messages on their phones, or even talking on them, while a film was playing. But as it turns out, such devices are illegal even to possess, and the use of one to block wireless transmissions carries a hefty fine.
Recording Industry Settles Downloading Lawsuits With Students
A recording industry trade group says it has settled lawsuits it brought against four college students for music downloading. Settlements range from $12,000 to $17,500 each, with four college students the industry claimed had been operating illegal song-swap networks on campuses.
Great Germans – No Hitler Allowed
German TV is adapting the BBC’s “Great Britons” poll to choose a “Great German.” But “in Germany, the voting procedure has been modified to stop Hitler or any his followers being included. A panel of experts will nominate 250 people. The public will then be invited to chose 50 more before the final voting begins.”
Potter Books Removed In India
JK Rowling’s lawyers have succeeded in getting two Harry Potter knockoff books removed from bookstore shelves in India. “One is an illegal Bengali translation of the first book, Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone but the other is a brand new text, starring the boy wizard but set in Calcutta.”
In NY: British Flops, Musicals Tops
British players and British players haven’t been doing well on Broadway this season. “The suspicion occurs that New York critics are tiring of British directors presuming to show them how great classics, and particularly American classics, ought to be staged.” But “the really good news in New York is that the renaissance of the home-grown Broadway musical is continuing apace, though it is odd that so many of them appear to be based on old movies.”
Growing The Guggenheim (Abroad)
Things haven’t been so good for the Guggenheim lately at home. No matter – director Thomas Krens has always had a global vision. So “yesterday he and Cesar Maia, the mayor of Rio de Janeiro, signed an agreement to build a $130 million museum on Mauá Pier in Guanabara Bay. Rio will be the sixth city with Guggenheim museums and exhibition spaces, joining Berlin; Venice; Las Vegas; and Bilbao, Spain, as well as New York.”