No Swelling Unseen Choruses, Just Hard Truth on Film: The New York Times reports from the Double Take Documentary Film Festival in Durham NC.

Julia Keller, Chicago Tribune art critic, laments the end of originality in late-20th century artistic creation.”The only originality left…is the choice of what to borrow from.”

Music critic John Rockwell, in The New Republic, chronicles the decline of Philip Glass.

R.I.P. John Smith:

“John Smith & Son, the world’s oldest bookseller

and a favourite of the poet Robert Burns, is to

shut its doors in Glasgow after losing the battle

against book superstores and online discount

shopping.” I’ll miss it personally, having visited several times including just last June. And I steadfastly refuse to buy books on the net if I can find them in my local bookshop.

Auction House Chairmen Scrutinized: Is anyone really surprised that price-fixing accusations implicate the highest levels of management of Sotheby’s and Christie’s? Is anyone surprised that they deny it? [New York Times]