“For decades, it has been widely assumed that Oscar Wilde died from syphilis, acquired as an Oxford undergraduate, although this notion has been questioned over the years. Research published today by two medical experts, in the run-up to the 100th anniversary of Wilde’s death, says a chronic ear infection that spread to his brain was responsible for the death.” – The Herald (Scotland)
Tag: 11.24.00
THE POLITICS OF ART
There’s a federal election going on in Canada, but none of the candidates or parties seems to want to talk about culture or the arts, a $22 billion industry in which the government has some major investments. – Ottawa Citizen 11/24/00
BIG JOB
Gordon Davis takes over the running of Lincoln Center at a particularly awkward time: the aging arts campus requires about $1.5 billion of restoration work. And while it’s going on, where are the center’s organizations supposed to do their work? – Boston Globe (Newsday) 11/24/00
TOO TOUGH FOR US
Protests as Canada’s Ontario Film Review Board bans the explicit French film Baise-moi from the province. “If there’s a perception that the board is becoming more hard-line – this decision comes after the board turned down a re-released version of Penthouse’s Caligula last year – there are others who feel the board is too lenient.” – Toronto Star 11/24/00
THE COST OF “RESTORATION”
The Shubert company, Broadway’s biggest and richest landlord, has announced it will add a $1.25 “facilities charge” to the cost of every ticket for shows opening after January 1. The company says it needs the money for preservation and maintenance of its theatres. The company stands to make as much as $1,900 for each performance or $60,000 per month per theatre. – New York Post
LEARNING FROM THE MASTERS
“Compared to other art forms, theatre has been slow to tap into the vast reserves of experience and expertise within its senior ranks. There’s a long-standing tradition of musical virtuosi having regular teaching assignments in between performances; whereas, as Peter Hall has observed, theatre ‘tends to be divided into two distinct camps: busy professionals and those who teach’.” A program in London’s West End tries to change that. – The Independent (UK)
THE FUTURE OF LIBRARIES
With all these commercial online reference services, will librarians become obsolete? ‘We know that libraries can provide authoritative information, both online and offline.’ And we feel that the only thing stopping us is the fact that patrons aren’t coming to the library much anymore.’ A new project is attempting to make the library an even more vital research source than ever before.” – Wired
A MATTER OF CREDIT
A Montreal novelist has come forward to charge that she co-wrote the book that won this year’s Governor General award for non-fiction and was promised recognition she didn’t receive. Nega Mezlekia, author of Notes From the Hyena’s Belly, denies the claim. “I hired her because I was worried about the formal aspects of my work. She would try and change things, but I don’t think she was doing it out of spite, but because she didn’t understand the book. She didn’t have a sense of humour. She was always telling me that the book will never see the light of day.” – National Post (Canada)
AND WHAT ELSE WOULD YOU BE USING THE NAME FOR?
Sydney Opera House manages to wrest its domain name (www.sydneyoperahouse.com) away from a cybersquatter. – The Age (Melbourne)
BETTER THAN SEX
The music revolution is here. “ ‘MP3’ — the most commonly used format for downloading music from the Internet — has now overtaken ‘sex’ as the most frequently searched term online.” – The Times (UK)