CNPIEC Bookstore book listing
August 6, 2010 Filed under Book
The China National Publication Import and Export Corporation’s (CNPIEC) bookstore recommends these new arrivals to Beijing Today readers.
The Story of Art
By E. H. Gombrich, 688pp, Phaidon, 299 yuan
Renowned not only as the most concise introduction to art history but also as a classic of art historical literature, this book reflects the vast knowledge, insights and expertise of one of the 20th century’s greatest art historians and thinkers. Extensively illustrated, it treats the history of art – both chronologically and geographically – as a continuous unfolding story.
Michael Jackson: Number Ones
By Michael Jackson, 127pp, Alfred Publishing Company, 209 yuan
Michael Jackson’s album, Number Ones, features a new single, “One More Chance.” There are 17 more songs on the album and they are among Jackson’s top hits. Alfred Music Publishing presents this greatest hits matching songbook that features stunning full-color photos of Michael and piano, vocal and guitar arrangements of all 18 songs.
The Philistine Controversy
By Dave Beech and John Roberts, 288pp, Verso, 99 yuan
Conventionally, the philistine is assumed to have no appreciation of art and culture. But in this fascinating re-evaluation of its excluded identity, Dave Beech and John Roberts address the philistine not as an empirical phenomenon but as a relational category that operates between art and anti-art, aesthetics and anti-aesthetics, arguing that the philistine cuts to the core of art in a divided culture.
(By He Jianwei)
Will.I.Am says new Michael Jackson album is a Bad idea
August 5, 2010 Filed under howie wang
(The Guardian)
Black Eyed Peas frontman claims forthcoming compilation of unfinished material should not be released
Will.I.Am … ‘Michael wouldn’t have wanted it that way.’
Finally, one man has the moral fortitude to turn down big money and protect Michael Jackson’s legacy – and it’s the auteur behind I Gotta Feeling. Black Eyed Peas’ Will.I.Am, who collaborated with Jackson before his death, has criticised plans to release the singer’s unfinished music. “He wouldn’t have wanted it that way,” Will.I.Am said. “Freaking parasites!”
“I don’t think that should ever come out,” the musician, producer and songwriter told the Associated Press this week. “How you gonna release Michael Jackson when Michael Jackson ain’t here to bless it? … That’s bad.” Referring to Jackson as his friend, Will.I.Am said the late singer was a perfectionist who oversaw every aspect of his recordings. “Now that he is not part of the process, what are they doing? Why would you put a record out like that?”
Will.I.Am first collaborated with Jackson on 2008’s 25th-anniversary reissue of Thriller, producing remixes of The Girl Is Mine, Beat It and Pretty Young Thing. The Black Eyed Peas frontman later joined R Kelly, Ne-Yo and Akon as one of several musicians contributing to Jackson’s comeback album. Frank DiLeo, Jackson’s manager, recently cited Will.I.Am’s songs among the list of unreleased tracks that could appear on a new Jackson compilation, due in November. If included on the posthumous release, Will.I.Am would earn a fortune in royalties.
“So what?” Will.I.Am said. “How much can you suck from [Michael's] energy? … What’s wrong with what he already contributed to the world?”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/aug/04/will-i-am-michael-jackson
Fans heal Beijing to mourn anniversary of Jackson’s death
July 6, 2010 Filed under News
Jackson's fans carry signs with environmental slogans. Photos by Chu Meng
By Chu Meng
Michael Jackson’s Chinese fan club held a bicycling event around the capital last Saturday to commemorate the first anniversary of the King of Pop’s death and spread Jackson’s dream of healing heal the world.
“Heal the World” blasted from a mini-boom box attached to a bicycle early that morning in front of Xidan Joy City. Thirty fans gathered for the one-day green biking trip. Some wore Jackson T-shirts, others wore crystal gloves or black hats.
The cyclists carried boards with environmental protection slogans as they rode from Xidan to Sanlitun to Wangfujing before ending at Houhai.
The cyclists were members of the Michael Jackson Love Club, a subdivision of Beijing’s largest Jackson fan community.
“They came together because of Jackson. They stay together because they want to be people who love our environment and help the children,” said Chen Yang, the 30-something leader of the club.
One year on, Jackson’s star power still shines brightly
June 25, 2010 Filed under dionysus
Michael Jackson, from his days as part of The Jackson 5, poses for the camera in this undated handout photo.
AUDRA BURCH AND HOWARD COHEN
MIAMI: In the 365 days without Michael Joseph Jackson, the pop star’s legacy has come into sharper focus, his art, music, magic liberally extracted from his dizzying celebrity and troubled private life.
A year of craziness followed his death on June 25, 2009, including his doctor’s involuntary manslaughter trial, family feuds and the epic yet futile discussion about the paternity of his three children.
But Jackson’s name may never have been more powerful. The 13 Grammy-winning singer is still celebrated by his original fans and has been discovered by generations of new admirers.
The first anniversary of his death today will be marked by specials, concerts, museum exhibits, candlelight vigils, a memorial in London, even a Japanese lottery for the chance to spend the night with Jackson’s possessions in the Neverland Collection in Tokyo.
Michael Jackson earns $1bn since death
June 23, 2010 Filed under howie wang
(The Guardian)
King of Pop’s estate generated ‘at least’ $1bn since his death last June, a new report estimates
Ker-ching of Pop … Michael Jackson estate earns £1bn since his death last June.
Ker-ching A new report has estimated that the Michael Jackson estate generated “at least” $1bn (£675m) last year. According to Billboard, the Jackson estate’s revenues for the last year are roughly equal to the GDP of Djibouti. About 24m Michael Jackson albums have been sold since last June, and almost a million more by the Jackson Five and the Jacksons – worth about £250m in sales. Add to this 39.4m song downloads, 4.5m ringtones, internet licensing worth £4m, £175m from the concert film This Is It, TV rights, DVD and Blu-Ray sales, and Jackson’s music publishing empire, including rights to songs by everyone from the Beatles to Taylor Swift.
Besides two forthcoming Jackson-themed Cirque du Soleil shows, a videogame, and a £135m deal for Jackson reissues, the King of Pop’s estate even generated about $6.5m from fans who bought tickets to the singer’s London O2 Arena shows but didn’t want to return them for a refund. That’s the equivalent of £4.38m for concerts Michael Jackson didn’t even play.
The report arrives as Jackson’s three children – Prince, Paris and Blanket – were described this week by their grandmother’s lawyer as “normal … or as normal as can be under pretty extraordinary circumstances”.
For the moment, the three siblings live with their grandmother Katherine Jackson at the family’s ranch-style house in California’s San Fernando valley. Jackson is raising them “a little less strict” than Michael would have done, she recently told the Mirror. While Katherine is still too shaken up from her son’s death to watch the This Is It documentary, Michael’s children have seen the concert film.
Michael Jackson’s once beleaguered finances are looking rather sterling. Jackson’s executors have reportedly paid off nearly $200m of his $500m debt, leaving just one major lender unpaid. The Wall Street Journal reports that a $300m loan from Barclays PLC, backed by Jackson’s stake in Sony/ATV publishing, matures at the end of this year. It seems Prince, Paris and Blanket’s circumstances are likely to remain “extraordinary” for quite some time.of Pop … Michael Jackson estate earns £1bn since his death last June.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/jun/22/michael-jackson-1bn
Some say it’s crook, but art is worth a look at Rookwood
April 7, 2010 Filed under dionysus
Hoping to attract more visitors to the cemetery... A glass scultpure called Reflections by Kate Bowles.
LOUISE SCHWARTZKOFF
WITH war graves to one side and Anglican tombstones to the other, an exhibition of contemporary sculpture at Rookwood Cemetery is raising eyebrows.
Scattered over the cemetery’s Remembrance Lawn, the works in Hidden: A Rookwood Sculpture Walk include a skull made from white bricks, a hanging mobile of bloodshot plastic eyeballs and a sequined hand resembling Michael Jackson’s famous glove clawing out of the earth.
The organisation behind the exhibition, the Rookwood Anglican and General Cemetery Trust, hopes it will draw people into the cemetery.
”In years gone by there would be whole families picnicking at Rookwood on a Sunday,” said the exhibition’s curator, David Capra.
”That doesn’t happen so much any more. This is a way of engaging with the community and reminding people of the cemetery’s rich history.”
The 24 featured artists have created works that explore grief, love and loss but some visitors to the cemetery recently felt it was an inappropriate venue for an art show. ”People come here to pay respect to the dead, not to be entertained,” said Duncan Lee, visiting a relative’s grave with his family. ”They should put it in a park somewhere or in some other public place.”
Enisa Cuturich was taken aback when she noticed the sculptures, just metres from her grandmother’s grave.
”I find it a bit odd to be honest. This is not the place to be looking at sculptures.”
For other mourners the exhibition was a place of reflection and a welcome distraction from grief. ”It’s bad enough, coming here,” said Gary Moore, who visits his wife’s grave every week. ”[The sculptures] take some of the blandness away from the place. That’s a comfort to some people.”
The sculptor Joan Ross understands both viewpoints. Her work, a memorial to a deceased friend, spells out the words ”And we laughed” using plastic tubing filled with human ashes and fluorescent water. ”While I was installing it, I had people drive past shaking their heads at me and I did wonder if this was the right place to be doing something like this. But there is some heartfelt work here that allows people to engage with grief.”
Hidden: A Rookwood Sculpture Walk is at Rookwood Cemetery until April 18.
Michael Jackson doctor interrupted CPR
March 23, 2010 Filed under Ahen
In this Monday, Feb. 8, 2010 file photo, Michael Jackson's physician, Conrad Murray, right, arrives for his arraignment at the Airport Branch Courthouse in Los Angeles, where he is expected to face involuntary manslaughter charges in Jackson's death. AP Photo
LOS ANGELES — Michael Jackson’s doctor halted CPR on the dying pop star and delayed calling paramedics so he could collect drug vials at the scene, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press that shed new light on the singer’s chaotic final moments.
The explosive allegation that Dr. Conrad Murray may have tried to hide evidence is likely to be a focus as prosecutors move ahead with their involuntary manslaughter case against him.
The account was given to investigators by Alberto Alvarez, Jackson’s logistics director, who was summoned to the stricken star’s side as he was dying on June 25. His statement and those from two other Jackson employees also obtained by the AP paint a grisly scene in Jackson’s bedroom.
Alvarez told investigators that he rushed to Jackson’s room and saw the star lying in his bed, an IV attached to his leg. Jackson’s mouth was agape, eyes open and there was no sign of life. Murray worked frantically, at one point performing mouth-to-mouth resuscitation while Alvarez took over CPR.
Two of the star’s children, Prince and Paris, came in the room and cried as they saw Murray trying to save their father. A nanny was called to usher them away and they were taken to wait outside in a vehicle.
The documents also detail an odd encounter with Murray after Jackson was declared dead at a nearby hospital. Murray insisted he needed to return to the mansion to get cream that Jackson had “so the world wouldn’t find out about it,” according to the statements, which provide no elaboration.
Murray’s lawyer, Ed Chernoff, rejected the notion his client tried to hide drugs. He also noted Alvarez was interviewed twice by police and gave different accounts of what happened in Jackson’s bedroom. During the first interview, Alvarez made no mention of being told to tidy away medicine vials.
“He didn’t say any of those things, then two months later, all of a sudden, the doc is throwing bottles into the bag,” Chernoff said. “Alvarez’s statement is inconsistent with his previous statement. We will deal with that at trial.”
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iJN6FHrmT75HzSZChIb2PDzFEDXgD9EK2FC00
The photographer who ran away
December 3, 2009 Filed under Center Stage
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By Wang Yu
It takes a special sort of photographer to make celebrities like Lil’ Kim, Angelina Jolie, Eminem and Drew Barrymore strip.
That photographer is David LaChapelle.
The artist was tapped by Andy Warhol after his graduation from art school and found work with Interview magazine. That position kick-started his 25-year career of capturing the intimate side of Hollywood.
Most readers have never heard of him, though they have probably seen his work: famous shots like a Jesus-esque portrait of Kanye West on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. He also shot ads for many fashion companies.
Outside the darkroom, he directs music videos. He won MTV’s Best Pop Video for No Doubt’sIt’s My Life” and directed Elton John’s concert The Red Piano at Las Vegas’ Caesars Palace in 2004.
But four years ago, he abdicated that life and fled to the jungles of Hawaii. He could no longer bear the celebrity worship of mainstream America, turning instead to the galleries which gave him his first failure.
Archangel Michael: And No Message Could Have Been Any Clearer Chromogenic Pring 2009@David LaChapelle
Michael Jackson estate fight becomes public family dispute
Los Angeles, California (CNN) — Michael Jackson’s mother dropped her challenge of the two men named as executors in her son’s will, but her sudden reversal caught her husband by surprise Tuesday and led to a bitter fight in court.
In the end, the judge approved John Branca and John McClain as executors to run the pop star’s estate and he ruled that Michael Jackson’s father had no right to challenge the decision.
Joe Jackson, however, will have his day in court in December to argue that he should get a monthly allowance from his son’s huge estate.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff also unsealed court documents that revealed the family spent $1.1 million on Michael Jackson’s funeral in August, using money from his estate.
Katherine Jackson’s change of heart came three weeks after she hired attorney Adam Streisand to replace the lawyers who were leading her four-month-long challenge of Branca and McClain.
Streisand announced in court Tuesday morning that Katherine Jackson “feels it’s high time that the fighting ends.”
“She feels that Mr. Branca and Mr. McClain have been doing an admirable job,” Streisand said. “We’re going to try to partner with them and work closely with them to make sure that the estate is doing the best that it can for the legacy of Michael Jackson, for the kids, most importantly.”
Streisand said Katherine Jackson kept the decision a secret from the rest of her family until Tuesday.
It drew a harsh response from attorney Brian Oxman, who on Monday filed Joe Jackson’s challenge of Branca and McClain. It was a fight that Oxman said Katherine Jackson had promised she would help wage.
“She has now reneged on her obligation to her family,” Oxman told the judge. Joe Jackson’s lawyer said Katherine Jackson’s reversal was “one of the most despicable displays” he’s ever seen in court.
Oxman accused Katherine Jackson of reaching a secret deal — behind Joe Jackson’s back — with the men who control their son’s estate.
Her lawyer fired back.
“That is not only baseless, but just a product of Mr. Oxman’s imagination,” Streisand said.
There was no deal and it was a surprise to the estate lawyers, he said.
“Before I announced my position, Mrs. Jackson and I were the only two people in the world who knew what I was going to say,” Streisand said.
As for Joe Jackson’s challenge for control, Streisand told the judge, “He has no right in the assets of the estate.”
Until now, the Jacksons have painted a united public front in the battle over who controls the estate.
“Lawyer to lawyer, it was contentious between the two of us in there, in order to try to get things to come to a resolution,” Streisand said after court.
“She doesn’t wish in any way to be involved in any dispute or fight with him, but she wants to see things get moving along in a more cooperative way,” he said, referring to Katherine Jackson and her husband.
Joe Jackson, 81, and Katherine Jackson, 79, have been married for 60 years but they live separately.
Joe Jackson is not named as a beneficiary in his son’s 2002 will, but he filed a petition last week asking for an allowance from his son’s estate to cover $20,000 in monthly living expenses.
Katherine Jackson is a beneficiary of the will, along with Michael Jackson’s three children and unidentified charities, and she receives a monthly allowance as ordered by the court in July.
Katherine Jackson supports her husband’s request for a monthly allowance, Streisand said.
Howard Weitzman, the lead lawyer for the estate, said they would take her wishes into consideration in deciding their position on an allowance for Joe Jackson.
Judge Beckloff will hear his request for a monthly allowance on December 10.
Joe Jackson’s petition to challenge the executors is dead, unless Oxman can resurrect it in a appeals court, which he told the judge he may try.
“I hope that an appellate court will agree with me,” Oxman said.
Joe Jackson contended that Branca and McClain should be disqualified as executors because they hid from the court a mistake regarding Jackson’s signature.
The signature section of the will said it was signed on July 7, 2002, in Los Angeles, although there is proof that Michael Jackson was in New York on that date, Oxman said.
The judge ruled that only a beneficiary, such as Katherine Jackson, is in a position to make the challenge.
Court documents unsealed Tuesday showed the estate paid $1,098,000 for Jackson’s funeral and burial.
The bulk of the cost went to Forest Lawn cemetery in Glendale, which was paid $855,730, including $590,000 for the crypt and monument inside the Holly Terrace section of it’s Great Mausoleum, the document said.
Jackson’s burial garments cost $35,000, while another $16,000 was spent in flowers for the funeral, the papers said.
Michael Jackson died on June 25, 2009, from what the coroner ruled was “acute propofol intoxication.”
http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Music/11/10/michael.jackson.estate/index.html
This Is It review: Michael Jackson film is fitting tribute to a bittersweet legacy
October 29, 2009 Filed under howie wang
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(The Guardian)
By Andrew Pulver
In spite of the lingering sense of necrophilia, Michael Jackson’s jerry-built swansong has enough juicy titbits to provide succour to die-hard fans
Michael Jackson’s This Is It has all the singer’s hits in their toe-tapping glory.
For everyone who’s thirsted for more Michael Jackson since his death little more than four months ago, the wait is finally over. For the rest of us, it’s time to look on in awe as Jackson’s memory – and the legendary fervency of his fans – is ruthlessly exploited till the pips squeak.
As is all too well known, Jackson was carried off shortly before embarking on a 50-date residency at London’s O2 Arena to try and pay off his rumoured $500m debts; footage shot during rehearsal for this series of shows forms
the vast majority of this much-heralded and hyped film, and goes some of the way to plugging both fans’ disappointment and his estate’s balance sheet.
So, to the burning question: is there any intimation of Jackson’s impending demise? I can’t honestly say there is. In the footage we are permitted to see, Jackson appears in pretty good shape for a 50-year-old – even if his general spindliness makes him occasionally look a bit like Skeletor in a lamé tuxedo. He performs at walking pace for much of the time, but makes it clear he is holding himself in.
As for the film itself, I can simply report that it isn’t too bad at all. It’s pretty much unadorned rehearsal footage, artfully stitched together to create complete song sequences; and since the O2 gigs were intended to present his crowdpleasing hits, they’re all here in their toe-tapping glory. Director Kenny Ortega puts himself in the frame quite a bit (sucking up to Jackson something rotten, it has to be said), and we learn that Jackson appeared to prefer culinary metaphors to describe his music: it must “sizzle”, or “simmer”, or indeed “nourish”.
The big fear, though, was that fulsome homages to the man and his talent would smother This Is It in a coating of treacle; thankfully, Ortega limits it to the occasional sobbing outburst from the dancers or choreographers. We are instead offered genuinely interesting tidbits of Jackson’s stagecraft, in the shape of intense discussion of cues, cherry-pickers and trapdoors – presumably to demonstrate how hands-on he was.
And there’s some fun sequences showing the creation of specially filmed inserts, such as the intro for Smooth Criminal having Jackson being Photoshopped into black and white movie clips from the 1940s, fending off Bogart and Cagney.
Jackson’s penchant for drivel couldn’t be entirely eliminated, as evidenced by the sickly little scene, built around a small girl wandering through an enchanted forest, that heralds Earth Song.
Still, this could have been a lot worse. It’s a bit much to claim it’s any kind of viable substitute for the live show, and since Jackson avoids conversation as much as is humanly possible it’s also a bit much to claim we get to know anything more about how he ticks. But This Is It a testament of a kind, and one that is no disgrace to his memory.
