Rem Koolhaas’s new Seattle Public Library has been praised to the skies. But David Dillon takes a second look: “As the rhetorical fog begins to lift, it’s clear that some of the praise was justified and some not. This is a dynamic civic building that bumps and grinds its way onto the downtown Seattle skyline with real panache. It reinvents and reinterprets many basic library functions, yet for all its adventurousness still manages to celebrate the book and reading. But it is not as coolly efficient as its boosters claim, and at street level it is a disaster, thumbing its nose at traditional urbanism in favor of gratuitous form making.”
Tag: 06.23.04
Goodspeed To Middletown
Connecticut’s Goodspeed Theatre has been talking about relocation. Now it looks like a decision has been made. Goodspeed will build a new theatre complex in Middletown. “The final version of a plan that has been in the works since November and was approved Saturday by Goodspeed’s board of directors has the city taking the lead in pursuing financing for the new satellite theater with 700 or 800 seats and a Broadway-sized stage. Goodspeed would retain ownership of the theater and raise funds for support services, such as actors’ housing.”
Can’t Keep A Tune? You Were Born That Way!
At least that’s what current research shows. “Researchers suspect that as much as 4 percent of the world’s population have a congenital brain abnormality that renders them tone deaf. Others can acquire amusia following head trauma or stroke. They have narrowed the hunt to the right auditory cortex, an area of the brain that processes pitch perception.”
Senate Investigates Non-Profits
The US Senate holds a hearing on the behavior of non-profits. “The U.S. Senate Finance Committee hearing focused on abuses that may occur at up to 10 percent of the nation’s 1.6 million charities. The abuses — ranging from inept oversight by volunteer boards of trustees to the willingness to become partners in tax shelter schemes — cost the nation billions of dollars each year, Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Mark Everson said.”
Favorite 100 Movie Songs
The American Film Institute announces its list of the best movie songs of all time. “The earliest song to make the list was “Isn’t It Romantic” (No. 73), which was sung by Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald in 1932’s “Love Me Tonight.” The newest came from 2002, with Catherine Zeta-Jones and Renee Zellweger’s rendition of “All That Jazz” (No. 98) from “Chicago,” and Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” (No. 93) from “8 Mile.”
The Artrageous Maurizio Cattelan
Maurizio Cattelan is “recovering from an attack of ‘art rage’: a Milanese man was so incensed by his ‘installation’ of three children hanging by their necks, eyes open, from a tree that he cut them down. It is not clear whether this was a triumph for Cattelan or a tragedy. He is not suing the attacker but Milan authorities are busy determining whether the installation was really a work of art, in which case the saboteur would face charges.”
Hacked Off At Holograms
“Before they became ubiquitous on credit cards and packets of toothpaste, holograms were the buzz of the avant-garde art world. But as a new holographic portrait of the Queen (right) is unveiled, 3D pictures are sneered at by the art elite.”
Wasn’t Digital Downloading Ruining The Recording Industry?
“OD2, the [UK-based] music download service co-founded by Peter Gabriel, was sold to a US rival yesterday as competition intensifies in the online music market. Digital media firm Loudeye will pay $38.2m (£20.9m) in cash and stock for OD2… The deal follows a surge in activity in the European online music market, with the European launch of Apple’s iTunes last week following the rebirth of Napster, the former enfant terrible of the digital music industry.”
Moore Loses Appeal
Filmmaker Michael Moore has lost his appeal to have the ‘R’ rating slapped on his Fahrenheit 9/11 changed to a PG-13. The film is slated for release this week, and one industry expert predicts that “the R rating could reduce the film’s theatrical revenues by 10 to 20 per cent.” Moore is urging teens under 17 to try to see the film anyway.
Takes One To Know One?
Michael Moore certainly seems to enjoy making enemies, and Bruce Kluger is sick of hearing about how the self-important filmmaker plays too rough, or is too wrapped up in his own image as a rabble-rouser. “The truth is, Moore may be as much a propagandist as the spinmeisters at the White House and Pentagon. If he is, he’ll surely be held accountable for his truth-twisting, just the way the president should be for his.”