Out Of The Mediocre Mass

“It may feel as you walk past the multiplex and into the chain bookshop where Katie Price’s bestseller is stacked up, and then home to pick up the television schedules dominated by reality shows, that we live in an age when there is little room for anything but the blockbuster, the bestseller, the audience-chaser, the top celebrity. But if you listen to some of the voices out there, it turns out that this isn’t what is going on at all…”

Pondering The Value Of A Really Expensive Klimt

“Adele Bloch-Bauer I” (1907), by Gustav Klimt, sold last month for a record $135 million. “Is she worth the money? Not yet. Paintings this special may not come along for sale often, and the hundred and four million dollars spent for a so-so Picasso, “Boy with a Pipe,” two years ago indicated that irrational exuberance could be the booming art market’s new motto. But Lauder’s outlay predicts a level of cost that must either soon become common or be relegated in history as a bid too far. And the identity of the artist gives pause.”

Mozart Reconsidered (Again)

“Present-day scholars are picking away at the myths and fantasies that have encrusted the world’s most famous composer. They describe him not as a naïve prodigy or a suffering outcast but as a hardworking, ambitious, successful musician — ‘Mozart as a Working Stiff,’ to borrow the title of a 1994 essay by Neal Zaslaw.”

New TV Ads In The Form Of “Programming Content” (CW’s Got ‘Em)

“In an effort to keep viewers from skipping ads — whether the old-fashioned way, by fleeing the room, or the TiVo high-tech, fast-forward method — the newly created CW network is introducing a new forum for sponsors called ‘content wraps.’ The content wraps will replace national advertising on an occasional basis on CW and will play at the beginning, middle and end of a program.”

The Phenomenon That Is YouTube

YouTube, the internet video site phenomenon, is now serving 100 million videos a day. “YouTube videos account for 60 percent of all videos watched online, the company said. Videos are delivered free on YouTube and the company is still working on developing advertising and other means of generating revenue to support the business.”