Tag: 11.13.06

Canadian Cable Companies Slam Network Proposal

Canada’s major broadcasters are proposing they be allowed to charge cable and satellite companies for their signals. “Only specialty cable channels — those higher up on the dial such as Showcase, MuchMusic and HGTV — are allowed to charge carriers for their signals. That structure was designed to compensate those channels for the smaller audiences they have because they aren’t afforded prime placement on the dial, and not all are carried by every satellite or cable company in Canada.”

Betting On Your Own Philanthropy

For-profit companies have long known the power of the investor to infuse them with cash just when they need it most. But non-profits are saddled with a fundraising model that requires them to beg for money while promising no fiscal return. Why does it have to be this way? Why not create a fluctuating market for non-profits, just as publicly traded companies have now?

Corporate Support Gets An Infusion Of Ingenuity

Partnerships between cultural institutions and corporate entities have gone creative. Take the Brooklyn Academy of Music. “To capitalize on Brooklyn’s building boom, BAM reached out to real estate developers, encouraging them to use BAM as a selling point with potential buyers. Through the developers, BAM is tapping into a new pool of potential patrons. … For example, memberships to the BAM Cinema Club are given as gifts to apartment buyers. This gives developers a perk to welcome prospective buyers, while BAM gets a direct connection to future audiences.”

Why Does The Movie Generation Know So Little About Movies?

“It is strange that while we worry about literacy and the need to read, an entire generation is growing up in complete ignorance of a rich and varied part of its own cultural heritage. How many teens could name one film by David Lean, Lindsay Anderson, Ken Loach, Stanley Kubrick, Alfred Hitchcock or Michael Powell – or even explain, with any degree of accuracy, what their involvement with that film actually was?”

Why Do Dancers Dance?

” ‘I Am a Dancer’ conveys the almost religious fervor that drives many of these dancers. Asked why they dance, they answer in various ways: ‘It’s transcendence, almost a communication with God’; “It is my voice”; “It’s your heart, it’s like a high”; “I become one with everything.””

Study: Tech Toys Don’t Help Build Kids’ Skills

“A government-funded study examining the role of technology in the lives of three- and four-year-old children and their families found that the hi-tech devices – one of the fastest growing sectors of the toy market, aimed at infants as young as nine months – are no more effective than traditional ways of introducing basic literacy and number skills.”

Getting Around The High Price Of Books (The Old Fashioned Way)

Having to cut back the budget? What about all those books you buy? “Few people know that the leading cause of personal bankruptcy in the United States is the ‘Clan of the Cave Bear’ novels. You overspend on one, and, just when you begin to dig yourself out, the next installment comes along. Public libraries began during the Depression as a government measure against this very problem. They’re there for our protection, so we should use them.”

Puccini In The Rain? Naw!

Washington National Opera is simulcasting some performances to giant screens on the National Mall. But unlike last year, the crowds didn’t appear for this weekend’s offering. “In fact, a quick tally suggested that between 200 and 300 people had chosen to spend the afternoon watching ‘Butterfly’ in the rain. They wore raincoats and huddled around heating lamps. Some sat on grimy patio furniture lugged from home; others shared wet blankets and shivers.”