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View Poll Results: AAm may award Alizée an Artistic Grant of €1000+. What is the MOST you pledge for it? | |||
€ 0 = US$ 0.00 | 27 | 52.94% | |
€ 5 = US$ 6.70 | 2 | 3.92% | |
€ 10 = US$ 13.40 | 5 | 9.80% | |
€ 20 = US$ 26.81 | 8 | 15.69% | |
€ 50 = US$ 67.04 | 4 | 7.84% | |
€ 120+ = US$ 160.88+ | 5 | 9.80% | |
Voters: 51. You may not vote on this poll |
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Respecting French and Corsican sentiments
Bigdan,
I think you make an invaluable contribution because you are French - and even close to the Corsicans - as well as a long-time resident of Paris. I will listen closely to what you say and think about it. And it would be even better if you might get other French people to add their opinions as well. This is true even assuming we abandon my original idea for another unusual one. It has been a long time since I helped with international humanitarian aid, but one interesting thing I learned is this. Even in FAMINE conditions, you must provide food similar enough to what the local people find customary to eat or SOME of then will STARVE TO DEATH! I found this surprising, but never forgot it. Let me mention something else. As Scruffy was preparing for his trip, I offered some advice concerning matters to him and Ben. I said that while I had fancifully christened Scruffy our "ambassador," I was very aware his command of French was limited, as was his deep understanding of life there, despite his several trips to Europe. I said that if any enduring contact emerged between Alizee America and the Alizee entourage, we needed a FRENCH member of Alizee America to act as what in diplomatic circles is called the "Honorary Counsel" - a native national, whom the foreign entity trusts to intermediate. In fact, I nominated a certain Parisian you know very well. Quote:
<blockquote><i>It is not hard to reliably transfer a million dollars, because transaction costs are a microscopic fraction of that million. But please note that it is very hard to cut a modest check to "Alizée Jacotey" and get it delivered and cashed! [P.S. All of Alizée America working together had to send five? copies of their Open Letter before they felt certain it did not get "lost" along the way!] <b>Done the wrong way, it might even be PERCEIVED as vulgar or insulting to send a €100 check, rather than buy a €10 CD which provides a small fraction of €10 to S.A. ["Société Alizée"].</b> What does the sender expect in return? If a foundation existed, the answer would be clear: nothing but the knowledge that the donation helps the cause... That is not to say a €100 donation might not bring a signed thank-you note or a €1000 donation a short (e.g. 30 second) personalized thank-you video... <b>Still, this might have been taken the wrong way and refused. Who needs a publicity item reading Once-great entertainer X now reduced to accepting penny-ante donations like a street busker?</b> The people who work for operas, concert orchestras, museums, libraries, historical societies and other cultural organizations escape opprobrium because of the <b>dignity of intermediation by a foundation. Why can't individual entertainers use a similar method?</b></i></blockquote> Quote:
No one knows exactly how much larger art media sales would be in the absence of easy illicit copying. I discussed this a bit at <a href="http://alizeeamerica.com/forums/showpost.php?p=150092&postcount=35"><i>Recording industry number analyses</i></a>. The music industry claims about 95% of downloaded music is pirated. If there was no elasticity of demand, this implies media file sales would be 20 times what they are now, absent piracy. But surely elasticity is non-zero, so the factor is somewhere between 1 and 20. I think it is MUCH closer to 1 than 20. Could it be 2? But I do not have data to compute the factor. Perhaps no one has. (I admire great French thinkers like Pascal, Descartes, Lagrange, Fourier et alia and aspire to do honor to their example. ) Quote:
With similar conditions in both France and the United States, since the latter has 5 times as many people, it will be 5 times as rich in total - but not per capita. I do not know for sure how knowledgeable either average French or American people are. But is it possible French think Americans are richer and Americans think French are richer? Few people in either country visit the other and play Alexis de Tocqueville. If most of their impressions come from television and films, perhaps my guess is correct. For every time one sees <i>Les Misérables</i>, one sees ten films like <i>Marie Antoinette</i>. Why? Many more poor people like to watch rich people, to pretend they live in their world, than the other way around! (By the way, when I wanted to treat my late mother especially well on one of her birthdays in New York City, I did not take her to eat at an "American" restaurant. I took her to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lut%C3%A8ce_(restaurant)">Lutèce</a>, on my only visit to this former famed establishment.) What is the objective truth, either in international trade values or PPP? The last time I looked, labor productivity in both countries was very similar - France was a little higher. But France has more legal restrictions on business and higher taxes on everyone. (All economists know this, left and right.) The result is that French people work fewer hours and fewer years than do Americans, so that an American creates more marketable goods and services during his life than does a Frenchman. I will let each decide for himself which type of life is better! Quote:
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If the Arts Grant were payable to Institubes, rather than some singer, it might accomplish the same thing without as much anxiety. Since it came from a group named Alizée America, the reason for the gift would be clear and Alizée would know about it from online sources, even if her professional partners were less than worthy of trust, something I will not suggest. If and when Institubes and Alizée parted ways, the former might be foolish to expect a similar grant from the same source again. Alizée has called Monsieur Etienne her "Artistic Director." She has made explicitly clear she is neither a lyricist, nor a composer, and her performance and interpretation relies upon professional partnerships which supply what she does not. But Alizée is a visual artist, besides a vocal one. If we harbored hope that our grant might help finance another free <i>UEdS</i> music video which is released to <i>YouTube</i>, is a check to Institubes, a pure audio art shop, the least complicated way to finance this? I'll ask one last question. If it is not INSULTING to offer the unspecified "services" and "advice" of a small group of US fan club showbiz amateurs of unknown competence (who don't even know how to simply and reliably send her a letter via her agent, using ONE copy.), why is it insulting to offer an large Arts Grant, which is completely fungible and unencumbered by conditions? P.S. As I write this, a total of € 645 has been pledged by 28 voters, only 13 of whom pledge nothing, This is most of the way to the dignified minimum of € 1000. We have yet to hear from all of the Fortunate Fifty, much less most of the 1000+ members of Alizée America. Last edited by FanDeAliFee; 04-23-2010 at 09:00 PM.. |
Tags |
art, grant, money, patronage, theft |
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