Istanbul

ISTANBUL, July 29—Two nights after devastating terrorist bombs exploded on its popular pedestrian shopping block, the neighborhood of Gungoren swarmed with people: old and young men repaired the shattered windows of a clothing shop under the blank, watchful eyes of naked mannequins; women in head scarves shared ice cream next to women in sundresses; shop owners smoked beside their boxes of shoes for sale; a handful of policemen clutched riot shields opposite tiny pink girls jumping around in empty fountains.

Huge red Turkish flags hung from balconies where families drank tea; one woman had stretched a flag across the frame from which the glass of her window had been blown out by the bombs.  read more »

Who could have imagined that the aggressive, angry, über-feminist Pina Bausch of 20 years ago would  read more »

Who could have imagined that the aggressive, angry, über-feminist Pina Bausch of 20 years ago w  read more »

Pedro Almodóvar’s Volver, from his screenplay (in Spanish, with English subtitles), tur  read more »

"Next year, in 2007, I think it's like the year of the suicide—the art world commits suicide," said Vasif Kortun. "It starts with Moscow, and then there's the Emirates, and then there's Venice, then in Istanbul; there's Documenta, there is Muenster Sculpture Projects—there's like fifty biennials next year."

Mr. Kortun, whose polite patience punctuates his lengthy disquisitions on the state of the contemporary art world, holds some responsibility for this biennial blitz. After all, it was he who founded the one in his native Istanbul. He lives there now.  read more »

"Next year, in 2007, I think it's like the year of the suicide—the art world commits suicide," said Vasif Kortun. "It starts with Moscow, and then there's the Emirates, and then there's Venice, then in Istanbul; there's Documenta, there is Müenster Sculpture Projects—there's like fifty biennials next year."

Mr. Kortun, who has a polite patience punctuating his lengthy disquisitions on the state of the contemporary art world, holds some responsibility for this biennial blit. After all, it was he who founded the one in his native Istanbul.  read more »

Citizens Union's Dick Dadey emailed over revenue numbers for the top New York political consulting and lobbying firms for the past five years that give a strong sense of how political consultants' main product line is increasingly...lobbying. It's not a new trend, but it's a worrying one for good-government groups, as the question of whether influence is being peddled depends largely on the consultants' personal integrity. In the worst case, the political work is basically a loss leader for the core lobbying business.

Revenue for lobbying has increased more rapidly then revenue for campaign consulting since 2001. Although there is fluctuation in some years--the number and intensity of contracts clearly affects this--the general revenue trend for lobbying is up.

In the top five earners, as revenue for each firm increases, the share derived from campaign consulting has become smaller. Overall, only three of the top ten firms make more than 30% of their revenue from campaign consulting. While those three are in the top five in overall revenue, numbers show a trend towards lobbying. In first and second place for overall revenue, respectively, are the two firms who increased lobbying revenue the most over five years, the Parkside Group by 98%, and Kasirer Consulting by 93%.

Since 2001, the top ten consulting/lobbying shops in total revenue (with the share of revenue from lobbying in parentheses):

1. The Parkside Group: $7,585,897 (70%) 2. Kasirer Consulting: $6,541,569 (89%) 3. Mirram Global: $5,275,157 (30%) 4. Hank Sheinkopf: $4,725,904 (11%) 5. The Advance Group: $2,773,644 (10%) 6. Constantinople Consulting: $2,343,968 (95%) 7. George Arzt: $1,784,163 (94%) 8. Wiscovitch Associates: $680,860 (79%) 9. Pryor, Cashman, Sherman & Flynn: $391,476 (79%) 10. Schnur Associates: $209,950 (70%)

—Nicole Brydson UPDATE: As a bunch of readers noted, we could have been clearer about the sources and limits of this data. This is a list of consultants who work on city races and lobby city officials. The sources, Dadey emails, are the New York City Campaign Finance Board and the City Clerk's lobbying search database. So other sources of revenue, and other lobbying contracts, aren't included.

The exhibition called Byzantium: Faith and Power (1261-1557) , at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, en  read more »

Turkish With a Twist:Soho Garage Revs Up Kitchen  read more »

I have never cared much for what art museums call "orientation" galleries.  read more »

Your diarist is filing this dispatch from a small village named Halton, some 50 miles northwest of L  read more »