Copyright 2008 The New York Sun Wed, 03 Sep 2008 18:45:29 -0400 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london webmaster@nysun.com en-us Zoe Strimpel http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/09/vying-to-keep-titians-in-britain.html http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/09/vying-to-keep-titians-in-britain.html Wed, 3 Sep 2008 18:45:28 EST Britain is embroiled in a classic tussle about just how much the country's artistic heritage is worth — and whether the taxpayer should be stumping up for it. Last week, the National Gallery in London and the National Galleries of Scotland launched a campaign to keep two Renaissance masterpieces on this island. They are Titian's "Diana & Actaeon" and "Diana & Callisto." Both come from the Scottish Duke of Sutherland's collection, and their price tag is a modest £100 million ($177.5 Zoe Strimpel http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/09/cooled-down-hot-spots-a-joy-of-august.html http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/09/cooled-down-hot-spots-a-joy-of-august.html Mon, 1 Sep 2008 16:15:11 EST The dog days of summer are drawing to a close, and the European holiday season — most if not all of August — is over. Today people trickled back into the city, and tube trains were full again with suits and briefcases, not just sweaty families. August was pretty boring. But one good thing about it was getting into places the tourists won't go but that would normally be out of reach. One such was the new talk-of-the-town restaurant, Hélène Darroze at the Connaught, helmed by Zoe Strimpel http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/09/ritchies-london-is-old-hat.html http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/09/ritchies-london-is-old-hat.html Mon, 1 Sep 2008 15:34:01 EST It's a very sorry season for movies. Guy Ritchie's new one, "RocknRolla," has been laughed out of London. Bigwigs from the Observer's critic Jason Solomons to the author of "How to Lose Friends and Alienate People," Toby Young, were among a crowd who were roundly unimpressed. "The film is basically another mad trawl through London's seedy underworld with mavericks and crack addicts around every corner," James Christopher writes in the Times of London today. This city may be the hot new place Zoe Strimpel http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/08/kafkas-porn-stash-and-edinburgh-off-to-a.html http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/08/kafkas-porn-stash-and-edinburgh-off-to-a.html Tue, 5 Aug 2008 12:28:28 EST A collection of pornography belonging to Franz Kafka has been discovered in the British Library in London and the Bodleian in Oxford. It appears that the stash had been concealed by scholars in an attempt to preserve the writer's image. The naughty material was unearthed by the academic James Hawes, whose forthcoming book, "Excavating Kafka," will reveal some of the pornographic material. "These are not naughty post-cards from the beach," Mr. Hawes was quoted as saying in the Times of London Zoe Strimpel http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/07/at-the-national-some-trace-of-the-idiot.html http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/07/at-the-national-some-trace-of-the-idiot.html Thu, 31 Jul 2008 22:20:30 EST The National Theatre is associated with "proper" theater: big, luxuriant, expensive, and expansive productions of heavy hitters from Michael Frayn to Tennessee Williams, Beckett, and Shakespeare. Indeed, that's been my experience of the place. Bit of a shock last night, then, to find myself at the Cottesloe (the National's most intimate theater, tucked around the side of the main building) for a play ominously entitled "…some trace of her," directed by Katie Mitchell. A title containing no Zoe Strimpel http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/07/a-social-worker-makes-the-booker-long-li.html http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/07/a-social-worker-makes-the-booker-long-li.html Thu, 31 Jul 2008 21:52:03 EST A 63-year-old social worker from Birmingham has been announced as one of 13 contenders on the long list for the Man Booker Prize, Britain's famous literary honor. It's a satisfying victory for Gaynor Arnold, whose manuscript was initially rejected by publishers and a literary agency. Her debut novel, "Girl in a Blue Dress," is about Charles Dickens's loveless marriage, and the judges are said to have proclaimed on reading it: "Here is somebody who can tell a story." Ms. Arnold may be modest Zoe Strimpel http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/07/damien-hirst-genius-or-sell-out-1.html http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/07/damien-hirst-genius-or-sell-out-1.html Tue, 29 Jul 2008 22:14:00 EST "His reputation is a little wobbly now," the editor of a fine arts publication called the Burlington Magazine, Richard Shone, told the Times of London. He was speaking about Damien Hirst, details of whose sale at Sotheby's this September, called "Beautiful Inside My Head Forever," have been released. "Beautiful" is expected to make at least £65 million ($128.7 million), which for a single artist borders on the obscene and is evidence of selling out. At least, that's the sentiment behind Mr Zoe Strimpel http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/07/cross-generational-fare-doctor-who-at-th.html http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/07/cross-generational-fare-doctor-who-at-th.html Mon, 28 Jul 2008 22:50:08 EST Those who assume the BBC Proms are a stuffy classical music festival with nothing to offer anyone under 40 should think again. Last night's concert was nothing less than a paean to the "Doctor Who" television series, complete with the Tardis lit up in the middle of the stage, Daleks, Cybermen, and other aliens running around. The cult of the BBC show goes deep and wide in British culture, crossing right between the generations so that it was unclear on Sunday who was more excited to be there Zoe Strimpel http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/07/watching-a-pop-concert-from-the-vip-bubb.html http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/07/watching-a-pop-concert-from-the-vip-bubb.html Mon, 28 Jul 2008 22:48:00 EST Time was, a pop concert meant gay men, sweaty teens, and girlfriends on a night out standing, swaying, and spending at least half an hour of the show in line for a Coke and nachos. In England, replace nachos with "chips." A "VIP experience" at a pop concert? Only for celebrities and royals. Anyway, times have changed. In London, a city in the grip of a taste for luxury and the good things in life with or without the funds to support such preferences (I find myself caring unduly about the Zoe Strimpel http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/07/oyster-gives-londoners-a-free-ride-whoop.html http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/07/oyster-gives-londoners-a-free-ride-whoop.html Mon, 28 Jul 2008 16:02:02 EST The smug, expensive Oyster card payment system that governs London's public transport failed this week for the second time this month, causing mayhem. Glee for "customers," many of whom were shooed through open barriers around the city as blushing officials looked on. Who doesn't like a free ride? It struck me as a good exchange after the five minutes I had to wait to get to the front of a solid wall of people trying to pass through the gates at London Bridge on Thursday. But there was another Zoe Strimpel http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/07/at-the-proms-1958-is-busting-out-all-ove.html http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/07/at-the-proms-1958-is-busting-out-all-ove.html Thu, 24 Jul 2008 20:52:23 EST Somehow, it's Proms time again. The biggest classical music festival in the world has kicked off with fanfare: a week of sell-outs and near sell-outs, and the same electric atmosphere at the Royal Albert Hall. That the punters have been crowding in for their fix of Strauss, Elliot Carter, and Brahms shows classical music in Britain is in fine fettle — one in the eye of the doom-mongers who say it's all gone down the tubes in favor of thumping bass lines. Roger Wright, director of the Proms, has Zoe Strimpel http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/07/reluctant-history-students-hail-british.html http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/07/reluctant-history-students-hail-british.html Thu, 24 Jul 2008 20:23:55 EST All hail "Hadrian: Empire and Conflict," the British Museum's replacement for the Terracotta Army bonanza. And yes, it's good. Very good. And I speak as one for whom an interest in history has always been — sad to say — forced. The masterstroke of the curators is to keep it simple, paired with a knack for storytelling. You're absorbed before you can say "Roman Empire": Just the map at the entrance showing how utterly huge it was does the trick. The plaques and inscriptions are short and sweet Zoe Strimpel http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/07/sniffing-at-sainsburys-gifts.html http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/07/sniffing-at-sainsburys-gifts.html Tue, 22 Jul 2008 16:04:32 EST Simon Sainsbury, of the Sainsbury's supermarket dynasty, left 13 paintings to Tate Britain and five to the National Gallery at a total value of £100 million ($200 million). Tate gets the bulk of the works, though the National Gallery is the institution most associated with his generosity. The Gallery has a whole Sainsbury wing, of which the late donor contributed a third of the cost — a £12 million tab ($24 million at the current exchange rate). Sainsbury, who died in 2006, also oversaw a Zoe Strimpel http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/07/summer-in-paris-and-relaxing-is-easy.html http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/07/summer-in-paris-and-relaxing-is-easy.html Sun, 20 Jul 2008 22:51:37 EST Just back from Paris, where tourist season (particularly American) is in full swing. On hearing of the timing of the trip, most people offered me a "glad it's you, not me" gesture. Summer vacations in European cities such as Paris, Rome, and London are rightly synonymous with endless lines, endless sell-outs and therefore disappointments, excessive sweat, inflated prices, and, of course, exhaustion. But that's if you try to do too much, and if you hold yourself to a schedule of cultural Zoe Strimpel http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/07/a-fictional-plays-topic-germaine-greers.html http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/07/a-fictional-plays-topic-germaine-greers.html Sun, 20 Jul 2008 22:40:29 EST Injecting a little zest into the dull, dull summer season comes the new play, "Female of the Species," at the Vaudeville Theatre. It's a dressing down of feminism based on the real-life kidnapping of Germaine Greer eight years ago, when a student briefly held her hostage in her home. Ms. Greer has certainly risen to the occasion, spewing invective at the playwright, Joanna Murray-Smith, reportedly calling her "an insane reactionary." Whether audiences will pity, applaud, or disagree with Ms Zoe Strimpel http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/07/zorro-swashbuckles-through-london.html http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/07/zorro-swashbuckles-through-london.html Wed, 16 Jul 2008 21:35:01 EST The latest incitement to London's current furor for musicals — "Marguerite," the ill-fated "Gone With the Wind," and "Jersey Boys" are three recent examples — is testament to the fact that things are on the upswing, and Broadway had better watch out. Last night's press performance of "Zorro" at the Garrick Theatre (no air-conditioning and very small) was an irresistible cacophony of singing and impassioned flamenco dancing, set to music by the Gipsy Kings. I can only conclude that the Zoe Strimpel http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/07/british-museum-more-fun-than-the-beach.html http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/07/british-museum-more-fun-than-the-beach.html Sun, 6 Jul 2008 15:45:00 EST When it comes to the modern leisure seeker, neither the seaside nor the delights of the country's best modern art museum are quite as tempting as the meaty displays on offer at the British Museum. Funny — I used to see the British Museum as the boring place my family always visited on holiday in London. Well, either times or people have changed— or, perhaps more logically, the museum has — to make it the nation's most popular cultural attraction, new figures for 2007–08 show. The museum saw 6 Zoe Strimpel http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/07/martin-creeds-tate-britain-show-not-the.html http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/07/martin-creeds-tate-britain-show-not-the.html Wed, 2 Jul 2008 00:14:00 EST Turner Prize winner Martin Creed's, err, surprising exhibit has opened at Tate Britain. "Work No 850" is entirely devoid of objects. Assigned the task of filling the museum's 86-meter Duveen Galleries, Mr. Creed sure came up with something a little different. For the next four months, a team of 50 amateurs, paid £10 ($19.93) an hour for their services, will sprint through the gallery in 15-second bursts. Visitors will not be allowed to join in because the museum is concerned about safety. A Zoe Strimpel http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/07/a-roaring-success-for-contemporary-art-a.html http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/07/a-roaring-success-for-contemporary-art-a.html Tue, 1 Jul 2008 16:34:33 EST Christie's Post-War and Contemporary art sale last night was a roaring success, making £17.3 million ($34.5 million) despite the fact that the economic mood in London has not been worse in years. I had suspected that the hype from Christie's press office, which said that all was rosy, was a little overblown and masked fears of the underperformance onlookers perceived at last fall's sales. But no: It appears, perversely, that the Contemporary art market has never been better. The total earnings Zoe Strimpel http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/06/black-watch-finally-lands-in-london-to.html http://www.nysun.com/blogs/letter-from-london/2008/06/black-watch-finally-lands-in-london-to.html Sun, 29 Jun 2008 23:44:31 EST "Black Watch," Gregory Burke's play about a Scottish regiment in Iraq, based on interviews with servicemen, has finally come to London two years after taking the Edinburgh Festival Fringe by storm. It toured America (including New York), Australia, and New Zealand last year; but the producers couldn't find the right venue for it in London. It's a tough one because of its "traverse staging," which requires a long, rectangular space with two banks of audience seating on either side, a bit like a