“By some quirk of Brussels chicanery or a triple ironic bypass after a liquid lunch, Linz has been chosen to succeed Liverpool as Europe’s artistic hub for the year 2009. It’s a decision beyond satire, or reason. Even if there were cultural grounds for celebrating Linz – and there are some – someone on an EU salary should surely have spotted that 2009 is the 70th anniversary of Hitler’s war and the 120th of his birth.”
Tag: 05.28.08
Words About Art That Mean Nothing?
“Most texts which accompany contemporary art production are so alarmingly twisted and woolly that they could easily pass for self-parody. Texts on art rarely explain what they profess to explain; they simply simulate the explainability of their theories.”
Borders’ Sales Down, Stock Falls
The Borders Group said its same-store sales fell and its losses narrowed in the first quarter, and Wall Street greeted Tuesday’s unveiling of the bookseller’s redesigned Web site with a sell-off of its shares.
Exploring The Virtual Bookshelf
New music websites “track down music similar to your existing tastes by finding people who like the same sounds as you. As we purportedly experience Facebook fatigue and Myspace exhaustion, web forecasters predict that the next phase of social networking will be all about specialist sites like these. And where music goes, books will follow, as a wave of new book-related social networking sites promise to do for readers what Lastfm did for inquisitive listeners.”
A Computer Made Of Bacteria
“A new living computer, bred from E. coli bacteria instead of stamped from silica, has for the first time successfully solved a classic mathematical puzzle known as the Burnt Pancake Problem.”
New UK Visa Requirements Shutting Out Artists
The difficulties of getting visas are forcing the cancellation of concerts and performances.
Mice At The Met – Met Opera House Cited For Vermin
During an April 9 restaurant inspection at the Met, the department found “evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or nonfood areas,” according to reports on the department’s Web site.
The Bronze Thefts
“Bronze plaques, medallions and other pieces worth $25,000 have been stolen from seven Ottawa-area monuments in the past two months, mostly in the city’s core.”
Penguin E-Book Sales Zoom Up
“Penguin has reported that e-book sales from the first four months of 2008 have surpassed the house’s total e-book sales for all of last year. According to the publisher, the spike is “more than five times the overall growth in sales, year-on-year, through April 2008.”
A Break From TV Ratings Doldrums – UK TV-Viewership Up 10 Percent
“Television viewing in the UK saw a 10% jump in April compared with the same month last year. Viewers tuned in for a daily average of three hours and 45 minutes.”