Excuse me, all you scoffers who snickered when Liverpool was named European Capital of Culture. “A spectacular waterfront, museums without parallel outside London, an elegant Georgian quarter, two imposing 20th-century cathedrals, the neo-classical masterpiece of St George’s Hall – where can those be matched? Past glories make every Scouse heart swell: imperial trade, cup-winning football, the Beatles.”
Tag: 12.30.02
Tolkien Manuscript Found
An unpublished manuscript by JRR Tolkien has been found in a box at Oxford. “The 2000 handwritten pages include Tolkien’s translation and appraisal of ‘Beowulf’, the epic 8th century Anglo-Saxon poem of bravery, friendship and monster-slaying that is thought to have inspired ‘The Lord of the Rings’.”
Protesting The Patriot Act
Two thirds of Vermont’s independent bookstore owners have signed a letter protesting the Patriot Act. “The Patriot Act gives the government the power to seize bookstore and library records to check customers’ and patrons’ reading lists. A gag order in the legislation prevents bookstore owners and librarians from telling anyone about the seizure.”
Penalties For Success
The 7-year-old New West Symphony, which calls an LA suburb home, has an unusual problem – one fanned by its success. The orchestra has a budget of $2 million, and has run every year in the black. Its musicians are part-timers, professionals who for the most part make their livings playing in LA’s recording studios. The problem? If the orchestra gets bigger, it’ll lose its part-timers, and the quality of the players might decline. And yet, there is pressure to grow…
Disney Hall – Opening Times Three
Los Angeles’ dramatic new Disney Hall, scheduled to open next October, is opening in a flurry of gala fundraising benefits expected to earn $3 million for the LA Philharmonic. “On the first night they’ll hear the tried-and-true classics. On the second, the new music of the 21st century. And on the third, we’ll honor the European composers who fled Nazi Germany to come to Hollywood and were hired by the film industry.”
Tune Smith
San Francisco’s Davies Hall is “tuned” for every performance. The computer-controlled acoustical canopy that dangles over the stage looks like some huge constructivist sculpture and reflects sound back to the musicians and out to the audience. It’s composed of 59 slightly bowed 6-foot squares of Plexiglas – they collectively cover 3,400 square feet – whose height and angle are adjusted according to the size of the ensemble or to the piece being performed.”
I’d Rather Eat News
It seemed like an interesting experiment – a radio drama with an all-star cast broadcast daily for a week to a national American audience. But reaction to National Public Radio’s radio play “I’d Rather Eat Pants” was swift – and negative. Of the 1,000 e-mails the network received, about 75 percent were negative, and execs are trying figure out why. Cast member Ed Asner is disappointed. “It’s a shame that intellectual newshawks who occupy NPR – or think they are intellectual newshawks – have to be so grouchy.”
Who We Lost
Here’s the AP’s list of A&E notables who passed away in 2002.
In Print We Trust
In this day of instant information on the internet, is there still a place for the printed encyclopedia? Surprisingly, yes. “Publishers are rediscovering how to reach the customer who thinks a printed book is still the best source of knowledge. After a four-year hiatus, Encyclopaedia Britannica, based in Chicago, has almost sold out the new edition it released this year and is planning a revision for next year. Libraries remain the best customers, but there is still a core of people who want that row of books at home.”
Spanish-Language TV Up In US
Growth in the American TV audience is being driven by Hispanic Americans. “Hispanics, it turns out, are driving the overall growth of the country’s television audience, and according to the latest Nielsen research, account for 18 percent of viewers who are 18 to 34, and 15 percent of those 18 to 49, the most desirable groups for advertisers.”