Tuesday, February 12, 2008

i've got mail

every day at work i receive a gift in my microsoft outlook: a daily recap of the biggest stories in the arts and theater world compiled by one thomas cott, who used to be our marketing consultant. this little electronic jewel is entitled "you've cott mail." (get it?)

anyway, today there are a few news stories i wish to bring to light, so i'm putting together my own you've cott mail. i wish my last name was gotti or something... you've gotti mail... hah.
numero uno

according to the new york observer, the juice's former agent, mike gilbert, plans to publish a book entitled how i helped o.j. get away with murder. i wonder what it's about?

the best part of this book deal? a portion of the proceeds will benefit the make-a-wish foundation.





numero dos

four impressionist paintings were stolen from a zurich museum this sunday by "three thieves in ski masks," one of which held museum workers at gunpoint while the other two took the paintings off the wall.
the paintings -- by cezanne, degas, monet, and van gogh -- are worth over $163 million.

first of all, the logistics of this "heist" confuse me. how did one guy with a gun hold all the museum workers at gunpoint? by "museum workers" do they mean "the 93-year-old night janitor"? didn't this museum have any kind of security system in place around these pieces? i mean, these are cezannes, not crappy children's artwork. (p.s. click that link. you won't regret it.) does switzerland even BELIEVE in security?

second of all, the new york sun wins the "don't even read the story; the headline basically IS the story" award of the day with their article "stolen art will be hard to sell." i'm not sure these thieves thought their plan through all the way before they stole paintings from four of pretty much the most famous painters in history. i hope they enjoy "boy in the red waistcoat" on the wall of their apartment, because no one's going to be ballsy enough to buy it.

numero tres
according to the new york observer, NYU has finally supported the greenwich village society for historical preservation's desire to grant its I.M. pei-designed silver towers apartment complex (left) landmark status.
this is good for a couple of reasons. as a proud NYU alumna, i am all in favor of anything that gets local whiners off our back. yes, i understand that many of our neighbors consider us a nuisance. i also understand that pretty much every college, from the largest cities to the smallest towns, has its detractors, whether it's for encroaching on historical land or for the frat boys that puke on their lawn every saturday night. i'm sure even notre dame has its haters, and god knows it's the ONLY reason to visit south bend.

anyway, cooperating with local community organizations is definitely a good thing. but for silver towers? are you kidding me? I.M. pei-I.M. schmei. i know he did the louvre and all, but these buildings look like they're made of cement legos. in an even odder decision, the preservation society is petitioning for the entire "super-block" to be protected under the landmark designation, which includes a morton williams supermarket and NYU's coles sports center (click for a visual), quite possibly one of the least inspired buildings ever constructed.
if you ask me, someone over at the GVSHP needs to get it together...

numero cuatro

in other news, the westminster dog show uncannily resembles best in show...

numero cinco
...and microsoft hasn't come any closer to its quest for world domination. mostly, i think, because google has cemented its place in history by creating the best e-mail service EVER, and because there will never come a day when "yahoo-ing yourself" will become a phrase in the cultural lexicon.

2 comments:

Katelyn said...

A. It would be awesome if the famous thinker titled his treatises "You've Goethe Mail." What an 18th century delight!

B. Uhhh... correct me if I'm wrong, but Silver Towers also holds a Picasso sculpture in its courtyard. And it's where frat boys pee when they've had too much jagerbombs at Society.

JM said...

weirdly, art museum thefts are more common than you would think. before moving here this summer, I read beppe severgnini's "la bella figura" which is just basically weird observations on italian culture, and it talked about how works in italian art museums get stolen like, constantly. not in the vatican and stuff, but in the smaller museums. i was surprised too.

i also was surprised i didn't hear about this heist in zurich. maybe i need to stop reading my 2934824th article about how the writers strike is over. i can't help it. i'm just so happy!!!