- Thousands of tourists descend upon the Louvre in Paris
every day to see the Mona Lisa, Winged Victory and Venus de Milo every day, but those
tourists looking to enjoy some of art’s greatest treasures were severely
disappointed on Wednesday. The famed art museum was closed for the day as its
security guards protested that pickpockets were rampant at the world's most -visited
museum. The Louvre’s 200 museum guards exercised their right to a work
stoppage, according to union representatives, thereby forcing the museum to
shut its doors for the day. The CGT union explained that guards were
"fed up" by attacks and threats directed at them and visitors in
recent months by pickpockets. With so many people visiting the museum each day
in a city of million, common thieves are bound to multiply and that’s exactly
what they have done in recent months, according to the secretary general of the
national union for museums (SNMD), David Maillard. "There are thefts and
threats every day. The guards are fed up with being assaulted by
pickpockets," Maillard said, adding that the unions want better security
at the museum. Nearly 9 million people visit the Louvre each year, but those
attempting to visit Wednesday were met with locked doors. The Louvre confirmed
the closure on its website but did not issue an official comment on the works
stoppage. After one day, the strike ended and the museum reopened Thursday.
Paris police also patrol the area around the museum, as they do many of the
city's most crowded tourist sites, such as the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre, but
gangs of thieves have grown adept at getting lost in crowds and exploiting
tourists. Even when they are apprehended, many of them do not hold French
nationality or are minors, complicating judicial efforts……..
- Jeff Buckley has long held a distinguished position in the
club of über-talented musicians who died young and left a lot of “what ifs” in
their wake. Buckley, who passed away in 1997 at the age of 30 after accidentally drowning in
the Wolf River in Tennessee, is best known for his haunting track “Hallelujah.”
He will soon be known as the inspiration for a unique musical production
opening this fall at The Old Globe in San Diego. Named The Last Goodbye, the
musical is titled after one of Buckley's most popular songs and is conceived
and adapted by Michael Kimmel and retells the story of Romeo And Juliet using songs by the late singer. Kimmel hopes
his musical eventually finds its way to Broadway and with high-profile producers
Hal Luftig ['Kinky Boots'] and Ruth and Steve Hendel ['Fela!'] attached to the
project, that seems to be a distinct possibility. The show itself actually debuted
in 2010, but until now it has never had a commercial run. It is scheduled to
run from Sept. 20-Nov. 3 and should benefit from two straight years of workshopping
with director Alex Timbers at the helm. Buckley fans should enjoy hearing and
seeing songs such as “Lover, You Should Have Come Over” and “Eternal Life”
linked to such an iconic sotry. Buckley's mother Mary Guibert gave the production
her blessing and expressed enthusiasm for the show’s debut in a few months. “I
cannot imagine a better launching pad for this project than the Old Globe.
Michael Kimmel's concept, which combines Jeff's music and the Bard's words,
lifts the story to another level entirely,” Guibert said…….
- A certain
northern Arizona tribe is angry. They’re angry because some of their tribe’s
historical artifacts are on sale nearly half the world away. The tribe in
question is the Hopi tribe and some of its sacred objects are up for auction in Paris. Tribal leaders have asked
French authorities to stop the auction from happening so they can get their
prized items back. The case is currently before a French court. The Heard
Museum in Phoenix showcases thousands of Native American objects, including Hopi
Katsina dolls, pottery, and dwellings. Hopi Chairman LeRoy Shingoitewa
said the tribe was extrmely disturbed when about 90 pieces of their history showed up in a public online catalogue
set for the Neret-Minet, Tessier and Sarrou auction in France with starting
bids between 2,000 and 20,000 Euros. "It was hurtful for our people to see
them displayed so openly," he said. "In the eyes of our people, they
are very valuable because they're central to the way that we worship.” Shingoitewa
sent a letter to the auctioneers asking them to postpone the auction so Hopi officials
can determine how the artifacts were obtained by the seller. "At this
time, our investigation shows at least one of these is stolen,"
Shingoitewa said. Only certain tribe members are authorized to take care the
items, so whoever sold or stole them could have had an inside man or woman.
Regardless of how the items arrived in France, Shingoitewa said the tribe does
not intend to go the route of buying them back. Someone asked me, ‘Will the
Hopi people just go buy those sacred objects back?' That is not the way we
believe in doing it because the sacred objects do not have a price to it,"
he said. The auction house did not respond to requests to speak with tribal
leaders…….
- Buzz over new Apple hardware is invariably over the top,
even to the point of competitors spoofing the long lines and camped-out
hipsters setting up shop outside Apple stores for days to get the latest iPhone
or iPad. The tech titan’s fifth-generation iPad will undoubtedly be no different
and rumors of what the device will look like are already swirling. Tech
observers expect a thinner, lighter design built around a reduction in the size
of the popular tablet’s LED backlight display. The most likely course of action
is making the display more efficient and using more efficient LEDs.
Successfully executing both of those ideas would give Apple the freedom it
needs to offer a streamlined version of the iPad – in terms of size and weight –
without sacrificing performance. The expected release date for the redesigned
9.7-inch iPad is a matter of who you ask, ranging from later this month to late
October. Most experts expect the new iPad to borrow some of its design
aesthetics from the current iPad mini. A reportedly leaked design image from
Apple showed a purported next-gen iPad cover glass, which had thinner bezels
and significantly modified dimensions in comparison with existing models. There
has been no confirmation that the next-gen iPad will make the switch to more
efficient IGZO panels and with those rumors swirling since 2011, believing that
they will come true this time around seems risky. If and when Apple does
utilize IGZO in iPad models, it is expected to do the same for the iPhone…….
- So….who wants to be the guy to take over for one of the
worst human beings ever to coach a college basketball team? The vacancy at
Rutgers is an interesting one for many reasons, especially because the last man
to hold the job was fired after a scandal involving a video showing three years
of him physically and verbally abusing players at practice was leaked to the
public. Mike Rice’s dismissal was accompanied by the resignation of his
athletic director, Tim Pernetti, and there is still pressure on other
university officials involved in the scandal to resign. While dealing with the
fallout from the case, Rutgers must also begin to move forward and that means
finding a new basketball coach. Scratch Rhode
Island coach Danny Hurley off that list because Hurley has passed on joining a
school bound for the Big Ten to remain at Rhode Island even though he is a New
Jersey native. Hurley turned down the Rutgers offer and instead signed an
extension Thursday night that will keep him with the Rams until 2019-20. Making
$1 million a season to clean up the mess at Rutgers just wasn’t appealing
enough to convince him to take his third job in three years after arriving in
Kingston, R.I., last year from Wagner. Lost in the shuffle is the fact that a
coach whose team finished 8-21 (3-13 A-10) in his first season received an
extension. Sources said for Hurley to seriously consider the Rutgers deal,
it would have to be a deal of at
least eight years due to the chaos at the school and its impending move to the
Big Ten. For me, my family loves Rhode Island, loves the people there. We've
adjusted really, really well to living outside of New Jersey for the first time
in our lives," Hurley said. "Two of my three years as a college coach
have been in rebuilding situations, and that's a tough thing to go through. It
takes a lot of energy and a lot of wear and tear on you." As part of his
extension at Rhode Island, Hurley also secured raises for his assistant
coaches, as well as more chartered flights for road trips……
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