“A lack of suitable venues, with the West Kowloon Cultural District still being developed, left the cultural sector struggling to expand, despite government funding of HK$3.5 billion per year.”
Why Mel Tormé Never Got The One Thing He Desperately Wanted
The gifted jazz singer – who was also a talented songwriter, arranger, author, and character actor – was tormented his entire life that he never achieved the same level of fame as Frank Sinatra. “What was it, then, that kept Tormé out of the pop-culture pantheon? Was his stylish singing caviar to the general? Or was something else at fault?”
San Diego Opera Was Nowhere Near Financial Collapse Last Season, Audit Shows
The company’s previous board and general director abruptly tried to shut down the company last spring, claiming that there was not money or local interest enough to keep it going. But the audited financial statements for that season show an operating deficit of $52,067 on operating expenses of $15.9 million – roughly one-sixth the deficit of the previous season.
Did Putin Give A Picasso From The Hermitage As A Bribe To Get The World Cup?
A secret British report given to Parliament alleges that the Russian president took two paintings from state collections – one allegedly a Picasso from the Hermitage in St. Petersburg – and gave them to FIFA officials in exchange for their votes for Russia’s bid to host the 2018 world soccer championship.
Brian Macdonald, 86, Choreographer, Director, Leader Of Ballet Companies On Three Continents
“He served as artistic director of Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, the Royal Swedish Ballet, and the Batsheva Dance Company in Tel Aviv, and he “won acclaim for creating or staging ballets, operas and Broadway musicals” through Europe and North America, including 19 productions at Ontario’s Stratford Festival.
Could the Creative Class Be Priced Out of L.A.?
“From Santa Monica to Venice to Highland Park – and now the Arts District in downtown Los Angeles – the painters, sculptors, musicians and dancers who made those and other neighborhoods centers of artistic creativity can’t afford to live or work there anymore.” (audio)
European Union Finally Publishes Guidelines On Right To Be Forgotten
“Search engines (mainly Google) that have been attempting to comply with the European Union’s right-to-be-forgotten regulations have had to muddle through without guidance for making subjective decisions about what to take down and what to leave up. Now the EU has finally released guidelines.”
They May Finally Have Found The Remains Of García Lorca
“In the hills overlooking Granada, forensic archeologists buzz excitedly around a cordoned-off site. A blue tarp sits in the middle, marking the spot where they believe lies the answer to one of Spain’s great mysteries of recent times.”
“He Sounds Gay” – What Exactly Does That Mean?
“Affect a lisp, assume a lilt, and add a fair amount of flamboyance. Presto! Instant gay man’s voice. It’s a stereotype, to be sure, but is there any truth to it? Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo talk to Benjamin Munson, a speech scientist at the University of Minnesota, about what it means to sound gay.” (podcast)
Did This Guy Reinvigorate Music Education And Make It Viable?
“Two months on, the success, not to mention the sheer speed, of the campaign, is impressive. Over 6,000 instruments were handed in to the 700 Oxfam stores acting as collection points. The instruments were then matched to specific requests from 150 primary schools across the UK, and delivered by Yodel. Each school has received up to 20 appropriately-sized instruments.”
And Why Would China’s Authorities Try To Ban Puns?
Oh, the Party has its reasons – alpacas, for instance, and marijuana. Nikhil Sonnad explains.
Christian Bale Explains Why He Sometimes Loses It With Journalists
“They can just poke you and poke you and poke you as though it’s just fun and games and means nothing. I don’t wish to cultivate that thing so many public figures have, where you basically become numb, become a roadblock, because so many people are saying nasty things or attacking. And I just go no, no. They win if I do that. I have to stay human, so sometimes that means you react.”
Why Are Our Children’s Books Getting Less Diverse?
“Of 3,200 children’s books published in 2013, only 67 were written by African-American writers, and only 93 centered on black characters. That’s actually the lowest tally recorded since 1994, when the Cooperative Children’s Book Centre began collecting data. Children’s books didn’t do much better with American Indian, Asian, or Latino kids.”
Bands Turn To Brands Turn To Bands In Mutual Self Promotion
“Years after corporations began enlisting musicians as spokesmen, the alliance between brands and bands is deepening, with companies from outside the music world taking on creative and curatorial roles at a moment when record labels are ceding some of their authority.”
Florida City Official Decries Art Depicting Pregnant Woman As “Pornographic”
Jacksonville City Council President Clay Yarborough said “while we may all differ on the definition of art,” a more important question is whether anyone, especially a child, should have their rights violated by being forcibly exposed to such a piece in a government-owned building.
The Man Who Helped Turn Miami Into A Global Destination
“After aiding the transformation of the moribund South Beach area into a glamorous district of pristinely restored Art Deco hotels in the ’80s and ’90s, Craig Robins helped engineer the launch of Art Basel–Miami Beach and co-created the satellite fair Design Miami. Now he’s about to see the fruits of more than a decade of planning and construction as another area revitalized under his care.”
Should We Be Afraid Of Artificial Intelligence?
“Is the risk real? Once humans code the first genuinely smart computer program that then goes on to develop its smarter successors, is the writing on the wall for humans?”
Turner Prize 2014 Goes To Duncan Campbell
“A 54-minute ‘essay film’ that refers to IRA martyrdom, Marxist theory and anthropomorphic ketchup dispensers as it explores the value of art won its maker Duncan Campbell the 2014 Turner Prize. It was by no means a surprise.”
“Scottsboro Boys”, “Here Lies Love”, Gillian Anderson Take London Evening Standard Theatre Awards
The Scottsboro Boys, the controversial Kander & Ebb musical that treats a notorious 1931 Alabama criminal case in the style of a minstrel show, edged out the Imelda Marcos disco show Here Lies Love, which received a special award for “pushing the boundaries of the musical.” Anderson took Best Actress honors for her Blanche in A Streetcar Named Desire.
Evening Standard Theatre Awards: The Judges Speak
“A one-man war machine, a doe-eyed Blanche DuBois and two trips to Eighties New York – our judges on the performances and productions that triumphed at the London Evening Standard Theatre Awards.”
Arts, Culture And Sports Have “Zero” Effect On Local Economies, Says UK Report
“The financial impact of cultural events on local economies ‘tend not to be large and are more often zero,’ according to new data produced by the What Works Network, a government-backed initiative launched in 2013 to offer guidance on decision making and spending in public services.”
Confession: I Bail Out After The First Act Of Plays – All The Time
Joanne Kaufman: “I’m embarrassed by how unembarrassed I am to admit [it] … Don’t ask me what happened during the second acts of Matilda, Kinky Boots, Pippin and, reaching back a few seasons, Boeing-Boeing and Billy Elliott. Really, I have no idea. But I am nothing if not cosmopolitan in my tastes, or distastes.”
“What If The Thing That Everybody’s Talking About Is Wrong?” Chris Rock Talks To Frank Rich
“Honestly, it’s not that people were offended by what I said. They get offended by how much fun I appear to be having while saying it. You could literally take everything I said on Saturday night and say it on Meet the Press, and it would be a general debate, and it would go away.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 12.01.14
“Willful Provincialism”: More From Williams Curator Kevin Murphy on Crystal Bridges
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2014-12-01
Useful, fun, important book
AJBlog: Sandow Published 2014-12-01
Good Morning, Helsinki: Guggenheim Poised to Announce Six Shortlisted Architects
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2014-12-01
Are bands on tour winner-take-all?
AJBlog: For What it’s Worth Published 2014-12-01
Ira Glass’s Dance Theater Follies To Tour Through 2015
AJBlog: Fresh Pencil Published 2014-12-01
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A Big New Contemporary Art Museum For Miami
“Groundbreaking is expected for next summer, with an opening planned for December 2016. The facility is to include more than 20,000 square feet of exhibition space, as well as classrooms and a 15,000-square-foot sculpture garden.”