A woman who says she was “taping parts of her sister’s surprise birthday party” at a showing of “Twilight: New Moon” “faces up to three years in prison after being charged with a rarely invoked felony designed to prevent movie patrons from recording hot new movies and selling bootleg copies.” She’s already spent two nights in jail.
Tag: 12.02.09
YouTube As Learning Revolutionary Tool
“Education has been slower than other sectors to respond to the digital revolution but, as elsewhere, the direction is being dictated by users. Nowadays, if you have a bad teacher you can find another one on YouTube or the plethora of other video sites still popping up.”
The End Of The Book Tour?
“The author book tour has become an endangered species. Long-rumored, much feared, the demise of traditional tours by authors though many American cities have gone into a steep decline in the last year or two. Book industry insiders say that the reduction in touring authors ranges somewhere between one-third and one-half, with little likelihood of a rebound.”
Guardian First Book Award To Zimbabwean Short Story Author
“A Geneva-based international trade lawyer whose poignant, humane and funny collection of stories about her home country, Zimbabwe, has impressed critics was tonight named winner of the Guardian First Book Award. Petina Gappah became only the second short story writer to win the award in its 10-year history.”
Texas Ballet Theater Using Taped Music In Fort Worth, Too
“About 100 members of the major local musicians union picketed outside Dallas’ Winspear Opera House during the ballet’s performances of The Nutcracker there Friday through Sunday. They handed out leaflets and carried signs saying, ‘taped music is tacky.'”
Salonen, Boulez, Alsop Among Crop Of Grammy Nominees
“True, you won’t likely see any classical-music stars thanking their agents on Grammy night — that’s because the classical categories are usually relegated to off-air time, heaped together with other presumably unpopular genres.” But there are plenty of nominees filling the 13 classical categories.
Hours Before Premiere, Indonesia Bans Film About East Timor Conflict
“Indonesia’s censors have banned Balibo, an Australian-made film about five foreign journalists who were killed by Indonesian troops during the 1975 invasion of East Timor.” (Bootleg DVDs of the movie are already available in Jakarta.)
Musicians’ Union Pickets Texas Ballet Theater For Using Recorded Music
“The musicians’ union began protesting last year, when the TBT first decided to use taped music rather than a live orchestra to provide the soundtrack for its performances. But the union has succeeded at making its dissatisfaction more visible since it began picketing performances of The Nutcracker at the Winspear Opera House last week.”
BAFTAs For TV Expand Acting Categories
“The BAFTA television awards will have two new categories from next year, with prizes for best supporting actress and actor introduced. In addition, the award for best comedy performance is to be split into two, giving recognition to both the best female performance in a comedy and the best male performance.”
Playwrights Can Post Scripts For Presenters At New Online Clearinghouse
“West London’s Bush Theatre has this week launched a pioneering social networking website which allows playwrights to post their work online for producers and directors to read and commission.”