In Brief: Mid-September Edition

Here is your regular Sunday selection of links to good things in Blogville and Beyond.

• In a brief article Claire Gillot directs us to several interesting photography exhibits in France this fall: an August Sander retrospective at the Fondation Henri-Cartier-Bresson in Paris (September 9 to December 20 -- his photo of the pianist Max van de Sandt, from 1925, is shown at right); The Subversion of Images, a survey of surrealist photography at the Centre Pompidou (September 23 to January 11); and exhibits on Swedish photographer Anders Petersen at the Château d'eau in Toulouse, British photographer Michael Kenna at the Bibliothèque nationale de France, and Turkish photographer Ara Güler at the Maison européenne de la photographie; as well as Photoquai, the Musée du quai Branly's photography biennial, this year focused on Iran and extending its reach to other institutions (la Monnaie de Paris, the galleries of Jérôme de Noirmont and Baudoin Lebon, and others). [Le Monde]


• DCist, the leading local Web site about all things Washington, D.C. (as opposed to the national news that happens to take place here), is celebrating its fifth anniversary in existence. They have a new logo, a burgeoning staff of writers and photographers, and an ever-growing readership, although they continue to have the same classical music contributor -- yours truly. [DCist]


• The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra is desperate to sell more seats to its concerts -- at least in Baltimore, as the Strathmore performances are generally much better attended. Desperate enough to update the orchestral concert with some modern buzz, like Greg Sandow keeps going on about? How about combining a night at the symphony with blood sport? [The Cereal List]


• On the one hand, no development should be allowed on such a historic and beautiful site like that formerly occupied by Saint Elizabeths Hospital in Anacostia. On the other hand, the grounds and its buildings are in a terrible state, and a new occupant of the site would at least use and rehabilitate one of the most precious and yet unknown and unappreciated sites in the District of Columbia. In a few years, much of the grounds will become the location of the Department of Homeland Security, which sadly does not give one much confidence that one will ever be able to visit the site, which has the most spectacular view of the city's federal center across the river, because of "national security concerns." [Philip Kennicott]


• Math geeks, meet music geeks. The canon canzicrans (crab canon) from Bach's Musical Offering visualized as a Möbius Strip. [Boing Boing]