arts and culture : In The News

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports on two online news publications that have launched recently, including yours truly.

As the market for news fragments, new models for journalism are emerging. Two of those experiments, Flying Kite and Patch, launched in Philadelphia last month.

"This is a fresh way to get fresh content about all the innovative things happening in our city," said Danielle Cohn, (Philadelphia Convention and Visitors) bureau spokeswoman.

Original source: The Philadelphia Inquirer
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Grasso Holdings has proposed converting a Richmond Street industrial building in Fishtown into a live music venue and museum for Philadelphia's rock and roll stars, reports the Philadelphia Business Journal.

The project would be housed in roughly 34,000 square feet of a 75,000-square-foot building at 2055 Richmond St. Grasso Holdings has the property under agreement and is in the early stages of the project in terms of financing, design and seeking neighborhood support and zoning approvals.

The facility would be able to accommodate about 2,600 people and would incorporate high-tech features that would create an interactive experience for concert-goers. The facility is being designed with the fans' experience as the focal point, said one person with intimate knowledge of the project and that starts from the moment a ticket is purchased.

Original source: Philadelphia Business Journal
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The New York Times tracks the move of an Irving Berlin upright piano moved from New York's Lincoln Center to near Independence Mall, where the $150 million National Museum of American Jewish History will open in November.

"This is one of those artifacts that was in our dreams when we started our planning: 'Wouldn't it be amazing if we were able to bring Irving Berlin's piano to the public,' " (museum deputy director Josh Perelman) said. "You can talk about him, you can show a movie about him, but to see the piano, to see the mechanism, to feel, as I did, that you're really in Irving Berlin's shoes--that's something."

Berlin bought the piano for $100, big money for a former singing waiter in a Chinatown restaurant, in 1909. He had other pianos later on, but that one was the one he had when he wrote "Alexander's Ragtime Band" in 1911.

Original source: New York Times
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