Well, what a slap at Sardi's! 

I have never heard of a theatre using a sign to advertise that they've booted an artistic director. I could maybe understand using one to announce that they've hired a new artistic director thereby indirectly noting the axing of the previous one, but to flat out say they've canned someone . . . Geez.

In the Innovation comic books based upon the 1991 remake, they showed what Barnabas looked like after having been trapped in a coffin with no blood supply for 172 years.

These guys bear a striking resemblance to my appearance in the morning after having been in bed for a few hours with no coffee supply. 

In late 2002, it was reported that David Selby had a brief role in the film Topanga Canyon, which was retitled Topanga. In 2003, under the new title The Affair, the film began making rounds in independent film festivals.

The News page of the Official David Selby Web Site is reporting that The Affair is set to be released on DVD this month. The page includes a link to the film's official site.

Speaking of which, I just wish I had the opportunity to take part in your class that includes the reading of The Gift: Imagination and the Erotic Life of Property. It sounds like it would be fascinating. 

Actually, it wasn't for a class. Stumbled across it while compiling my reading list for my PhD exams. I do a lot of stuff with concepts of exchange and reciprocity in Old English and Anglo-Latin literature, and so Hyde's text has to go on the list because he talks about the exchange of language for money which is somewhat related to issues that come up with the scop's (a scop is like a bard, sc pronounced as sh, the o is long) relationship with his lord.

Are we all bored now?   

I understood what you're saying and I respect it so far as marketing a commodity goes. But when it comes to a discussion of art, I think we're coming to the discussion from two opposing philosophical perspectives - perspectives that are probably bound to clash.

What you're getting at here, whether or not art is a commodity, is something that is discussed in one of the texts on my exam reading list. The Gift: Imagination and the Erotic Life of Property by Lewis Hyde deals specifically with art as it fits into the gift vs. commodity scheme. The basic argument of the book:

"[T]here is an irreconcilable conflict between gift exchange and the market, and, [. . .] as a consequence, the artist in the modern world must suffer a constant tension between the gift sphere to which his work pertains and the market society which is his context."

I think focus groups are a manifestation of that tension, though Hyde is more concerned with writers like Walt Whitman and Ezra Pound, so he never specifically discusses them.

My point (do I have one?  ) is that what MB and victoriawinters are arguing here is an old and long debate. This isn't simply a product of Hollywood.

Ever since patronage has existed, whether or not an artist is compelled to manipulate his/her product to suit the whims of an audience or a financial backer has been an issue. Go back to a "pure" time when this didn't happen on any level, and you're likely to find an artist without means of distributing his/her work at all.

Does that mean I like what focus groups do and all the decisions they make? Not by any stretch of the imagination. But I think they're probably an unavoidable and necessary evil. 

The News page of the Official David Selby Web Site includes a link to another press release from WVU, issued today, about their upcoming commencement exercises. This one profiles the three people who will be receiving honorary doctorates, including David, and explains why they were selected for this distinction.

Striking good looks were not a criterion. Go figure. 

For those of you who have SoapNet, the current episodes of Ryan's Hope feature Dorrie Kavanaugh in the cast as Martha McKee, who is dallying, shall we say, with Jack Fenelli.

Kavanaugh appeared on DS as Phyliss Wicke.

This Ryan's Hope web site features screen grabs from an episode that aired recently on SoapNet:

http://members.tripod.com/RyansBarOnline/kavanaugh1.html

The grabs aren't the greatest, but I didn't recognize her until the closing credits, so I don't have any of my own to offer. 

Sadly, Dorrie Kavanaugh passed away in the early 1980s.

The April 19, 2004 edition of CableFAX's CableWorld includes an interview with Dan Curtis about his upcoming Showtime project, Our Fathers. He discusses his collaborations with Robert Cobert but does not specifically discuss DS.

Click here for the article.