Monthly Archives: May 2011

In the High- Low Debate, Graffiti Art Once Again in the Spotlight

When the exhibit “Art in the Streets” opened at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles last month, it rekindled the age old debate of graffiti-as-art versus graffiti-as-vandalism.  Billed as the “first major U.S. museum survey of graffiti and … Continue reading

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Music and Technology: The Legitimacy of Sampling

For centuries, artists have been stealing from other artists in order to create “new,” “original” works. The sampler began to enter American music in serious way in the 1960s and 1970s (at the time it was big and giant and … Continue reading

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Food Writing To Chew On

Food writing has been getting a lot of action this spring. Between the James Beard award’s recognition of food journalism and the Future of Food conference held by the Washington Post, it’s pretty clear that writing about food culture has … Continue reading

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The Long Lasting Battle Against Online Movie Piracy

Two months ago, Chris Dodd, the newly appointed CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), dedicated his first speech since he took his seat to the dangers of online movie piracy, according to Jennifer Martinez of politico.com. Dodd … Continue reading

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The New Celebrity

It is no surprise that fashion bloggers have increased their trend prediction power, compared to their traditional magazine counterpart,  mostly due to the rapid dissemination of information that is organic to reporting on line. Power players like Scott Schuman, aka, … Continue reading

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Save the Music Industry – 5 Articles You Should Read Now About the State & Future of Music

In a time when music artists give their fans entire albums for free, ringtone sales rival the sales of singles, and Twitter has replaced PR agents, it’s no wonder record label staff and major music executives are scurrying around in … Continue reading

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Lies, Truth and Memory: The Memoir Debacle

In 2009, Stephen Elliott traveled the country on a D.I.Y. book tour to promote his memoir The Adderall Diaries. (This meant the tour was not sponsored by his publisher; he went where he was invited by readers, often in small … Continue reading

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The Ongoing Revolution: Iranian Film and Censorship

Being a filmmaker in Iran is not easy. Sure there is beautiful scenery, exciting tales of real life struggles and the aftermath of a revolution and war to inspire, but all these visions may never get seen due to the … Continue reading

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Is model diversity on the runway chic? Apparently not.

I recently sat down to speak about the issues that ethnic models face in the fashion industry with David Ralph, Men’s Director at NY Model Management and Pierre Woods and Hollis, two professional runway, editorial and commercial models. After doing … Continue reading

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Third Dimension Divides Opinions: The Debate Over 3-D Films

For a brief moment, it seemed that 3-D movies had nowhere to go but out of style. That extra dimension meant higher ticket prices and higher expectations. And when it was tacked onto films shot in 2-D, audiences felt swindled. … Continue reading

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