Over the past few decades, while museum attendance at big city museums has soared, the numbers at smaller rural museums have fallen by about half. Why? “Numerous causes have been cited for this precipitous decline, including the weather and 9/11. But one factor stands out among the reasons behind this consistent, decades-long trend: the 1978 deregulation of the airline industry and a new era of cheap air travel.”
Tag: 12.27.05
A Quantum Experience
“Nary a week goes by that does not bring news of another feat of quantum trickery once only dreamed of in thought experiments: particles (or at least all their properties) being teleported across the room in a microscopic version of Star Trek beaming; electrical “cat” currents that circle a loop in opposite directions at the same time; more and more particles farther and farther apart bound together in Einstein’s spooky embrace now known as “entanglement.” At the University of California, Santa Barbara, researchers are planning an experiment in which a small mirror will be in two places at once.”
New UK Laws Impose Hardship On Performers
New performer licensing laws in the UK have made things difficult for small acts. “When the culture secretary, Tessa Jowell, launched the licensing laws on November 24, the media focused almost exclusively on the new 24-hour opening rules and the fears of a wave of binge drinking. Hardly anyone reported that at the same time the regulations required every small-scale entertainer, from folk musicians to street artists to charity carollers, to obtain a public entertainment licence before putting on a paid-for performance.”
Why Are People Staying Out Of Movie Theatres?
“These days it’s not necessarily a question of which film to see, but whether to go to the movies at all. Increasingly, the public is becoming more vocal about its unhappiness with some of the unpleasant circumstances it now associates with moviegoing.”
Enzo Stuarti, 86
Stuarti “appeared in more than a dozen Broadway productions, including “Around the World in 80 Days,” “South Pacific” and “Kiss Me Kate.” He performed under the names Larry Lawrence and Larry Stuart before taking the name Enzo Stuarti, his son said. Stuarti was a frequent guest on television talk shows, including the Ed Sullivan Show, the Mike Douglas show and the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.”
Korean Publishers Burned On Fake Cloner
“South Korean publishers rushed to put books on celebrated scientist Hwang Woo-suk on store shelves only to find him embroiled in a scandal and their products becoming one of the biggest flops of the holiday season.”
Kapoor Named To Tate Board
Sculptor Anish Kapoor has been chosen to replace Chris Ofili as one of three working artists on the Tate board of directors. “He fills a vacancy created when Ofili – whose Upper Room was controversially purchased by the Tate in March – came to the scheduled end of his reign there last month. The Prime Minister, Tony Blair, who is in charge of re-appointments, is believed to have chosen Kapoor from a shortlist of two given to him earlier in the year.”
ROM Scores Raves
The Royal Ontario Museum unveiled several new galleries yesterday, and the early response is overwhelmingly positive. “The new spaces will feature the art and archaeology of China, Japan and Korea and a gallery will be devoted to artifacts created by Canada’s Aboriginal Peoples. This is the first time in 25 years that the ROM has had a permanent location for its First Peoples collection.” The museum isn’t done yet – construction is continuing on Daniel Libeskind’s five-story steel-and-glass addition, which is expected to be completed in late 2006.
If Hollywood Says Torture Is Okay, It Must Be True!
Ever since the photographs of prisoners at Abu Ghraib being abused by American service personnel emerged into public view, the U.S. has been embroiled in a hot debate over the use of torture, and whether it can ever be justified. Strangely, although all available research indicates that torture doesn’t actually work if the goal is to extract information, many Americans seem to believe that it can be a highly effective method of interrogation, and furthermore, that it is somehow morally justifiable if lives might be saved. Where are we getting these ideas? Probably from every cop drama, spy film, horror flick, and suspense movie released in the last 40 or so years.
France Votes To Legalize File-Sharing
“A French government crackdown on digital piracy has backfired because lawmakers rebelled by endorsing amendments to legalize the online sharing of music and movies instead of punishing it. The vote last week by members of France’s lower house dealt a setback to Culture Minister Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres, who introduced the draft legislation… Under the original proposals, those caught pirating copy-protected material would have faced $360,000 in fines and up to three years in jail. An 11th-hour government offer to give illegal downloaders two warnings prior to prosecution was not enough to stem the rebellion. Instead, the amendments voted would legalize file-sharing by anyone paying a monthly royalties duty estimated at $8.50.”