Fantastic Fargo and Great Grand Forks!

What a great day. Started with bang in Fargo at Babb's Coffee shop, then a quick drive to Grand Forks for a talk with a very engaged group of prospective entrepreneurs at the Ina Mae center; topped off by a truly wonderful town hall in downtown Grand Forks at the Coffee Company. Sarah and her crew were wonderful - completely rearranging every piece of furniture in the room to accommodate a big crowd - even more people showed up than had RSVP'd. A serious group of power users. Two gents had driven 2.5 hours from Canada! We even borrowed chairs from the fitness club and the women's hair salon next door! One of the many great advantages of hosting these in smaller towns and special thanks to the 94.7FM DJs who knew the proprietors and helped us with the chairs - fortunately they were Pandora fans :)

We also just ran way over on our RSVPs for Omaha on Thursday, so we've moving the event to the Durham Museum (801 South 10th Street).

Gotta get some sleep for the long drive to Sioux Falls tomorrow.

This is fun!

Tim (Founder)

Source: http://blog.pandora.com/pandora/archives/2010/11/fantastic-fargo.html

Kim Smith Hilary Duff Lake Bell Haylie Duff Talisa Soto

Costco Wedding Dresses

They're here: [A]t these prices, you do sacrifice some of the salon-buying experience. There's no fancy, individual dressing room, fresh-cut flowers in the sitting area and no champagne for you and your entourage to sip as you giggle and try...

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Aki Ross Ashley Tappin Carmen Electra Amanda Marcum Leila Arcieri

Eliza Doolittle ? review

ABC, Glasgow

It is surely no coincidence that Eliza Doolittle's UK tour has kicked off just as the clocks have gone forward and the first mild breezes of spring have begun to blow. The 22-year-old Londoner's sound (twee, gently soulful picnic pop) and look (tonight: midriff-exposing pink top, yellow shorts, sparkly trainers, waist-length curly locks) are so sunshiny she might as well have just emerged from hibernation since last summer, when her platinum-selling self-titled debut album was released. To have prompted so many of her teenage-girl fans to totter into town in their high heels and hot pants during colder months would have just been irresponsible.

The stage is framed by two huge pairs of legs, clad in rollerblades, stretching skywards. Doolittle's backing band sport perma-smiles, buttoned-up baby-blue shirts and bow ties. Her light, chirping, mockney voice brings an instant hit of minty freshness, and she dispatches tonight's opener, Moneybox, with all the effortlessness of Lily Allen's even cockier little sister.

It is a shame, then, that her repertoire reveals itself to be so limited, and that Doolittle delivers it with such limited conviction. The sweetness overload of her music suggests a performer with all the bounce and sparkle of a kids' TV presenter, but she comes across more like a moody teen roped into helping out at a younger sibling's birthday party. You can practically feel her blushes as she participates in the cutesy shtick of reaching into a big red toybox to pull out a ukulele, on which her guitarist strums the skiffly opening chords of Skinny Genes. When it comes to the mandatory audience-split-down-the-middle singalong, Doolittle rattles it off without so much as a cursory, "I can't hear you!"

Her best song, an unreleased R&B acoustic number penned when she was only 17, provides an intriguingly angsty counterpoint ? "You said you wouldn't hurt me/ Now I just feel dirty" ? though its impact is promptly negated by a tedious lounge cover of Bruno Mars's Grenade.

Doolittle's biggest hit, Pack Up, gets a mostly inert crowd swaying gently with its Cuban rhythm and upbeat chorus (lifted from Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit-Bag), before a take on Kanye West's mildly sweary Runaway ? a curiously biting choice of closing song, however brightened and abridged her version is ? adds to the nagging suspicion that Doolittle might next prefer doing something she, let alone everyone else, can take a bit more seriously. If she is to enjoy a career that lasts beyond another summer, that is probably wise.

Rating: 2/5

• Eliza Doolittle
• Pop and rock

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/mar/29/eliza-doolittle-review

Melissa Rycroft Chloë Sevigny Janet Jackson Georgianna Robertson Reese Witherspoon

Arts Council England funding cuts ? the great axe falls

More than 200 organisations lose support on 'agonising' day of 15% cuts to the arts ? but those who win, win big
Live blog - culture cuts

It is a day of radically mixed fortunes for the arts in England, as organisations up and down the country receive news of their funding levels from Arts Council England (ACE).

In all, 638 organisations who applied for funding were disappointed as the crucial letters flooded into email inboxes this morning. Of those, 206 were formerly funded regularly by ACE.

Alan Davey, chief executive of the organisation, talked of "agonising and painful decisions" and "good organisations we have not been able to fund". He said there had been a "clear intellectual framework" for the decisions and a "transparent process".

But 110 new arts organisations were brought into the ACE portfolio for the first time, among them innovative young theatre organisations including HighTide Festival Theatre, Birmingham's live art Fierce festival and the much larger Manchester International Festival.

ACE, which received a 29.6% cut in its grant-in-aid from the government, passed on cuts of 15% to the arts as a whole, but it promised not to "salami slice", giving equal pain to all. This meant there were big winners ? and big losers ? as the funding decisions were announced.

Exeter Northcott theatre and Derby theatre lost their funding totally. So did the organisation that exists to help arts organisations raise funds, Arts and Business. Also disappointed this morning were Shared Experience theatre company and the Riverside Studios in London.

The Almeida theatre in London took a surprise hit of 39% in real terms while its neighbour a few miles east, the Arcola theatre, saw its grant up by 82.1%. Punchdrunk, which has become famous for its immersive theatrical experiences in unusual spaces, had a hefty rise of 141%.

The large national organisations, such as the National Theatre, the Royal Opera House and the Royal Shakespeare Company, all received cuts, in real terms, of 15% over the period 2012-15. English National Opera had a slightly smaller real-terms cut of 11%.

Tony Hall, chief executive of the Royal Opera House, said: "It is fair that the big organisations take what cut they can to allow others to survive and do great things. Alan Davey has come up with some wise judgments."

In the field of visual arts, the Institute of Contemporary Arts, which has struggled financially in recent years, took a heavy 42% cut, but Davey called thenew grant of �900,000 a year "a good amount of money ? Putting this amount of money in is a vote of confidence in their future."

There were uplifts for galleries, such as 107% for the South London Gallery, currently enjoying a successful period, and increases for a trio of new galleries about to open ? FirstSite in Colchester (up 16.8%), the Hepworth in Wakefield (up 7.7%) and Turner Contemporary in Margate (up 9.8%). Mima, in Middlesbrough, was a significant winner, with an upswing of 143.8%.

The country's symphony orchestras received a standard 11% cut in real terms, but Cambridge's Britten Sinfonia was rewarded for innovative touring work with an 11.8% increase; and T�te � T�te opera, which creates small-scale work in innovative spaces, became part of the portfolio for the first time, as did the Academy of Ancient Music.

Arts leaders spoke out against the cuts from central government. Tim Etchells, artistic director of the theatre company Forced Entertainment, welcomed his standstill grant, but said: "We feel that the government cuts ? to the arts and to other vital areas of social provision ? are both destructive and ideologically motivated. Cuts for the arts are particularly shortsighted given that the recent commitment to funding and development has made British culture the envy of the world and an industry which enjoys a sizable return on investment."

Tom Morris, artistic director of Old Vic, also received a standstill grant. "However," he said, "many organisations and cities have not been so fortunate. It would be easy to blame Arts Council England, but this is not their fault. They have been set a riddle to which there is no fair solution."

Ivan Lewis, the shadow culture secretary, said: "The contention that the cuts will not affect frontline provision of the arts have been blown out of the water. Half of those who applied received no funding. Arts Council England has tried to do its job in good faith ? but taken together with cuts to local authorities and to higher education, the picture is not good."

• Arts funding
• Theatre
• Art
• Classical music
• Opera
• Cuts and closures

Charlotte Higgins

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2011/mar/30/arts-council-england-funding-cuts

Amy Cobb Deanna Russo Cheryl Burke Olivia Wilde Paulina Rubio

Beyonc� drops father as manager

R&B singer ends long-term management arrangement with father Mathew Knowles

Beyonc� has split with her long-time manager ? who just happens to be her father. In a mutual decision, the singer announced that she and Mathew Knowles have severed their management relationship, giving him more time to focus on his gospel label. "Business is business and family is family," her father said. "It should come as no surprise that at 29 years old, almost 30, she wants to have more control of her business."

"He is my father for life and I love my dad dearly," Beyonc� said. "I grew up watching both he and my mother manage and own their own businesses ... and I will continue to follow in their footsteps." Though Beyonc� has not announced a new manager, it is speculated that she will join husband Jay-Z's Roc Nation roster. She is a "very, very smart businesswoman", Knowles told the Associated Press.

Beyonc�'s father has overseen her career since she first auditioned for gigs as a teenager. While the singer's mother, Tina, was her stylist, Mathew managed his daughter through her solo years, as a member of R&B group Destiny's Child, and during the past decade. Until recently, Knowles also managed the solo careers of Beyonc�'s former bandmates, Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams. He is still understood to represent Beyonc�'s sister, Solange.

Mathew insisted this was just a business decision, and unrelated to the recent Knowles family drama. Mathew and Tina Knowles divorced in 2009, after 29 years of marriage; Mathew was alleged to have had an affair, and a baby, while still married to his wife.

"We mutually agreed to part ways in terms of me managing Beyonc�, as my focus is in the investment of Music World Entertainment's growing gospel and inspirational music division," Knowles told Us Weekly, referring to his record label. "Because of the success of these artists, my focus has to be on gospel now."

Mathew Knowles remains manager for Destiny's Child, who split up in 2006. But the group could still reunite, he told Us Weekly, "one day". "Beyonc�, I feel, is the number one artist in the world right now," he added. "That's a great feeling, as a father and manager."

• Beyonc�
• R&B
• Urban music
• Pop and rock
• Solange Knowles

Sean Michaels

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Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/mar/30/beyonce-drops-father-manager

Cat Power January Jones Christina DaRe Malin Akerman Melissa Joan Hart

The Conservative States Of America

Richard Florida delves into the data: Conservatism, at least at the state level, appears to be growing stronger. Ironically, this trend is most pronounced in America's least well-off, least educated, most blue collar, most economically hard-hit states. Conservatism, more and...

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/andrewsullivan/rApM/~3/caWZgkYGDuA/click.phdo

Michelle Branch Melissa Howard Samantha Mumba Busy Philipps Thora Birch

Let's stop this Top of the Pops revival in its tracks

Though great in its day, the world does not need the return of a weekly half-hour ghetto for pop music

BBC Four is hosting a Top of the Pops night this Friday. From then on, the classic Thursday night slot will see episodes screened weekly, from that equivalent week, starting from 1976. Which, of course, is great: everyone loves a good Pan's People montage and the chance to see vintage Madonna clips. Except, of course, that's not where it will end. Next thing you know, it will have inspired another Facebook group, another Twitter hashtag and another guileless attempt to bring the thing back. Not in my name.

Top of the Pops was great and necessary in its day, but the world has changed. Think about what this campaign actually suggests: the return of a weekly half-hour ghetto for pop music, based around the singles chart, predicated on the idea that this is the only place for people to hear their favourite songs. Now, that couldn't fail to look anything other than totally foolish.

In his forthcoming book Retromania, Simon Reynolds examines how the present is so ashamed of itself that it's driven to obsessing about its recent past to the point where there isn't actually any past left.

It's why a grunge revival has been predicted every two years since grunge actually ended, and it's why people are still slavishly demanding a Top of the Pops comeback. But Top of the Pops isn't Doctor Who, a programme so ingenious it can survive the test of time. It belongs to an era when music was dominated by only a few artists, who were tightly product-managed. This was a time when Sunday afternoons were spent taping songs off the radio, and waiting until Thursday evening to see them performed on TV felt like a real event.

The internet has obviously played a significant role in the ubiquity of pop, but even in the dusty old world of television, there's more access to music than ever before. It's everywhere.

The BBC plays Florence and the Machine to plug Lark Rise to Candleford. Rihanna can waggle her arse on The X Factor and create a national panic. When promoting her single Don't Hold Your Breath, Nicole Scherzinger performed it on Dancing On Ice, Loose Women, T4, Lorraine, The Hot Desk, The Crush, Let's Dance for Comic Relief and Freshly Squeezed.

Meanwhile, William McKinley High seems a far more interesting backdrop to hear the songs of Katy Perry and Bruno Mars. At least you know none of it's real. And as more of us go digital, there's about three dedicated channels for every musical genre.

It doesn't help that the internet, with its obsession with search terms and short sharp shocks, has so far failed to generate the compelling alternative to music television it has so much potential for. And yes, there certainly is a space for a dedicated pop show with songs and performances that actually feel exclusive, creative access to stars with wit, personality and credibility, rather than the label-funded puffs that pass for interviews on 4Music. I'd be more than happy to executive produce such a show it any networks are listening. But that programme wouldn't be Top of the Pops, and it would sully a great institution to try calling it that.

But if you really need evidence of why Top of the Pops should stay dead, just watch it on Christmas Day. It's fun then, but it would be painful on any day when you're not drunk by lunch. Does this once great colossus really deserve the indignity of having Adele performing Someone Like You every week until June 2013? Really?

In 2011 pop music is an inventive, high-concept fantasy playground, where Nicki Minaj becomes a samurai warrior , where Lady Gaga is paraded inside a giant egg, and where Biffy Clyro play at being pirates. But it's a world with no place for Top of the Pops. Let it go.

• Pop and rock
• Television
• BBC

Dan Martin

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2011/mar/30/lets-stop-top-pops-revival

Maria Sharapova Lindsay Price Zoe Saldana Rachel Perry Mary Elizabeth Winstead