“With Congress joining Microsoft and New York’s sharp-shooting attorney general in the war against spam, e-mail marketers have pulled out the heavy artillery to get their messages across: Poetry. Their cryptic e-teases appear in subject lines and, more frequently, in auto-preview panes that allow a peek at the body of an e-mail without actually opening it.”
Tag: 12.30.03
Outside Censorship In Shanghai
Shaghai is the cultural capital of the new China. But still, censorship means that watching some of the country’s most interesting new movies requires going to underground screenings. “Since 1999 China has had about 100 independent movies. They are insightful, powerful and tell the real China.” But they happen outside the approval of official censors. Wider acceptance may be coming though. “People beyond the elite were beginning to respond to these movies, which speak of their own lives.”
Bollywood Awards Pass On Canada
Bollywood is the largest producer of movies in the world. Instead of being held in India, the annual Bollywood film awards – the equivalent of Hollywood’s Oscars – are staged in other cities around the world. They’ve been held in London, South Africa, and Malaysia, and this year, Canada wanted to host them. “Organizers saw B.C. as a natural fit because of the province’s large Indo-Canadian population as well as a thriving film sector that many in Bollywood would have been interested in checking out for co-production possibilities as well as options for making movies here.” But alass it’s not to happen.
When News Is Entertainment Is News
The back-scenes dealing between Michael Jackson and CBs that resulted in a 60 Minutes interview and the airing of an MJ music special this week further blurs the lines between TV “news” and entertainment. “Critics regularly warn about the narrowing line between news and entertainment. Now that line is downright disappearing. The news and entertainment branches of the network are mere offshoots of much larger corporate enterprises, in this case, Viacom. News and entertainment are equally engaged in the pursuit of profits. The news division, once a special enclave with a higher calling, is now a cog in the business machine. The “divisions” are less divided than they are team players.”
Art On A Shirt
“It’s fashion. It’s art. It’s advertising. It’s a political statement. It’s one of the most versatile pieces of clothing ever made. It’s a staple ingredient of 21st-century culture. Once upon a time, Julius Caesar said: “Veni, vidi, vici” (“I came, I saw, I conquered”). These days it’s: “Been there, done that, bought the T-shirt”.”
The New Seoul (At Expense Of The Old)
Seoul is being remade. “As newly built apartments soar to spectacular and costly heights, some of Seoul’s most distinctive neighborhoods and buildings were quietly shown the door this year, to make room for future visions of the city.”
Key West: The Part-Time Pro Orchestra
The Key West Symphony is unlike any other. “The symphony draws talented musicians from other orchestras, such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic. They fly in three times a year for a week of rehearsals, fun in the sun and performances that draw accolades from residents and visitors. Conductor Sebrina Maria Alfonso, a Key West native, returned to the island in 1997 after working and studying internationally to bring to life her dream: a world-class symphony in a town with a permanent population of less than 30,000 residents.”
Downloading Program Tops 2003 Internet Searches
The information most searched for on the internet this year? It was info about Kazaa, the downloading program, says the annual Yahoo! list of most-searched terms. “Kazaa, which has more than 17 million registered users in Europe and the US, attracted attention in 2003 after the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) took action to stop web users sharing music through such file-swapping software.”
Are Corporations Playing Censor?
An artist whose image for a London light projection was rejected by sponsors, says corporations are increasingly getting a censorship role in art. “The patrons of contemporary art, the Medicis of today, are the corporations. They give the impression of supporting dissident views and freedom of expression, but if there is any danger that your sponsored work encourages even a modicum of critical debate, you’re out the door. The sponsors are in it to ratchet up ‘the buying mood’. Censorship of culture is something one does not speak of in the free market – it brings back images of Lady Chatterley and the Lord Chamberlain. But in the visual arts it is an increasing determinant of what people are allowed to see in public spaces.”