“Two years after the Taliban destroyed much of Afghanistan’s cultural heritage, attempts are being made to restore what is left.” But the task has been hampered because since “US-led forces evicted the Taliban from Afghanistan 18 months ago, the international community has done little to help the government of Hamid Karzai restore the museum or get back thousands of artefacts looted from Afghanistan over the previous decade.”
Tag: 06.18.03
Harry Loose On The Streets
Police fear that the 7000+ copies of the new Harry Potter book stolen from a trailer earlier this week “will be illicitly distributed throughout the north-west, jeopardising the launch. The books will have a high currency among criminals because Harry Potter fans have had to wait almost three years to read the latest adventures of the boy wizard.”
Why Steal It? Try Wal-Mart.
In yet another bizarre story of Potter-mania, a Montreal woman somehow managed to purchase a copy of the new Harry Potter book from her local Wal-Mart this week. The book is scheduled to go on sale Saturday. Since the woman was only planning to read the book, and not, y’know, post it on a web site or something, the publisher just laughed it off as an innocent mistake. HA! No, of course they didn’t. In fact, Raincoast Books, the Canadian distributor of the Potter series, offered the woman $5000 if she would return the illicit copy. She said that Raincoast could have her copy back once she’s finished reading it.
Sontag Wins German Peace Prize
Author Susan Sontag has been named the recipient of a “Peace Prize” by the German publishing industry. “In a world of falsified images and mutilated truth, she has stood up for the dignity of free thinking,” according to the German Publishers and Booksellers Association. The award comes in response to negative publicity Sontag received in the U.S. for an article she wrote in The New Yorker shortly after September 11, 2001, in which she accused the U.S. government of manipulating the public in order to wage unjust wars.
Overhaul For CanCon?
In Canada, a stringent government policy has governed film and TV productions for 30 years, aimed at making sure that Canadian culture is not overwhelmed by the American entertainment juggernaut. But CanCon, as it is known, has come under fire in recent years as being counterproductive, out of date, and too focused on the commercial benefits of cultural industries. A new report commissioned by the federal government recommends sweeping changes, including “the adoption of a new system that would be based on the costs associated with the more creative elements of the production. The model would require that the three top creative jobs — writer, director and lead performer — in any domestic production be filled by Canadians.”
Montreal Film Fest Loses Its Luster
“The upcoming 27th annual instalment of Montreal’s World Film Festival could be its most interesting yet — but less for what’s on its screens than the circumstances under which it will be occurring. For the first time in its tumultuous history, the festival will be unspooling without its A-list or “category one” status as North America’s only “non-specialized competitive festival.” Moreover, the festival admitted recently that it has yet to pay out $50,000 in prize money to the directors of two films honoured at last year’s festival.”
Vail Braces For A Publicity Upgrade
For years now, Colorado has been a popular summer destination for professional musicians. The state boasts multiple summer festivals from Aspen to Boulder, and this summer, the 15-year-old Bravo Vail Valley series is getting a major PR boost, with the presence of the New York Philharmonic. “The orchestra’s residency will be the first of three annual appearances in Vail as part of an agreement announced nationally by the two organizations in New York in January 2002.”
Death Of The Gay Bookstore
Gay bookstores were one of the hallmarks of the first twenty years of the Gay Rights movement. So why are so many of them dying off now that homosexuality is more widely accepted in mainstream society? “In the past 10 years, well over half of the GLBT bookstores in the country have closed, leaving about 40 to carry on a tradition that was crucial to gay liberation. There is no gay bookstore in Chicago; only three survive in New York City.” The reality may be that such niche stores have become victims of the success of the movement that spawned them. In an era when gay-themed titles are enthusiastically stocked by national chains and mainstream independents alike, it’s difficult for the niche stores to hold on to their clientele.
Muzak For The Hipster Crowd
Apple’s celebrated new MP3 player, the iPod, is making waves throughout the music industry, and in some very unlikely corners of capitalist society, as well. “Instead of piping bland background music over tinny speakers, enterprising music promoters are loading hundreds of hours of hip tunes onto iPods and renting them to restaurants, nightspots, clothing boutiques and hair salons.” The enterprise is giving independent musicians a chance to be heard by a larger audience than they would ordinarily have access to, and clients of the new service are thrilled to be getting something other than the typical Muzak.
Vandalism As Copyright Enforcement
Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) believes he has a solution to the problem of illegal file-swapping and downloading of copyrighted material: destroy the computers! Hatch wants technology developed which would disable or destroy any computer attempting an illegal download. The fact that such a plan would be in blatant violation of U.S. anti-hacking law does not seem to concern the senator, but the plan does not seem to have much support among Hatch’s colleagues.