“This year marks the two hundred-and-fiftieth anniversary of the first publication of Samuel Johnson’s magnificent Dictionary of the English Language, the most ambitious and idiosyncratic single-person etymological effort ever attempted. Accolades have accumulated over its reigning period of influence. Unabashedly entertaining it is, indeed. The current generation of professional lexicographers is taught to dissect words in a vacuum, to trace their etymological history with Protestant precision. Doctor Johnson is their Columbus. He is also an anti-model.”
Tag: 05.10.05
Encyclopedias – “Second-Class Literature’
“Encyclopedia entries are among the lowest form of secondary literature. It might be okay to “look something up” in an encyclopedia or some other reference volume. But read them? For pleasure? The implication that you spend much time doing so would be close to an insult — a kind of academic lese majesty.”
What Does Your Cell Phone Ring Tone Say About You?
“Ringtones, the catchy electronic snippets of popular songs that echo from sleek wireless phones, have become ubiquitous among teenagers to thirty-somethings. They were the first to adopt the wireless technology that not only announces incoming calls but also chimes out a little something about the owner’s personality. But while hits by Usher and Missy Elliott may be all the rage on campus, they probably won’t get the same reaction in the workplace.”
Montreal Musicians Picket Symphony
Musicians of the Montreal Symphony were out walking a picket line Monday as the orchestra went on strike. “The union said orchestra management has demanded that musicians work more consecutive days than the labour law permits, for example, and has made insulting salary offers. Management at the symphony, which has a $3.4-million deficit, said in a statement Monday it regrets the strike and blamed the union for not allowing non-monetary changes to the contract that would have allowed for a resumption in recording and touring.”
Cleveland Orchestra Signs Up With Miami
It’s official – the Cleveland Orchestra has signed a ten year deal to play annual three-week residencies in the new Miami Performing Arts Center. “The visiting orchestra will be strengthening its existing relationship with the New World Symphony, based in Miami Beach, as well as establishing one with the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music, putting students at both institutions together with world-class musicians. The Florida Philharmonic was likely to have been the resident orchestra at the PAC, until the Philharmonic went bankrupt.”
Cleveland In Miami – Why?
“As part of the overall strategy for the Cleveland Orchestra, it will make us an even more international institution. Alongside New York, Miami is probably the most international city in America today.”
HBO Heads To The Theatres
HBO has begun making movies for theatrical release rather than for its TV network. “Making movies for theaters would seem counterintuitive for a premium cable channel, but it’s a strategy that HBO Films is following on select titles to burnish its reputation and direct attention to projects that may otherwise be overlooked.”
Gamer – Hollywood Ties Itself To Video Games
Hollywood movies are increasingly thinking video games. “For studios, they represent a lucrative opportunity to introduce “catalog” products to a new generation of players and broaden a gaming universe that is already red hot. According to the NPD Group, a New York-based sales and marketing research firm, video-game software accounted for $7.3 billion in revenues in 2004, and sales rose 23% in the first quarter of this year. Games such as “Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith,” released last week, are developed in conjunction with the film. And recently the DVD world began cashing in too, offering simplified versions of video games as “extras” with films such as “Hulk” and “Van Helsing.”
Spamalot Leads Tony Nominations
“Monty Python’s Spamalot” leads this year’s Tony nominations with 14. “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” and “The Light in The Piazza” got 11 each. The Pulitzer Prize-winning “Doubt,” John Patrick Shanley’s drama of uncertainty set against the backdrop of a Catholic school in the Bronx, received eight nominations.
Yahoo! A New Music Store
Yahoo! launches a discount music download service it hopes will attract downloaders away from illegal downloading. “Yahoo Music Unlimited is more like a cable TV service than a record store, letting subscribers play as much music as they wish for as long as they pay $6.99 a month or an annual subscription of $60.”