Moments to Remember

I enjoyed your “Life Outside the Lines� article (in the “Defining Moments of the 20th Century� issue, Oct. 3) very much. But I believe a few important things were left out (perhaps due to space, etc.). Here are my additions:

1915--Dada movement, which eventually led to Surrealism, etc.

1946--�Progressive jazz� created by Stan Kenton and Pete Rugolo, transforming jazz from dance music to concert music.

1948--Long-playing phonograph records changed the way people listened to music (longer stretches of play) and, more important, the way musicians recorded music (e.g., concept albums, etc.).

1952--Mylar tape, leading to audiotape (and hi-fi recording), videotape, computer data.

1960s--Minimalism, in art but mostly in music (Terry Riley’s “In C� led the way for Philip Glass, Steve Reich, etc.).

1980s--MTV, for better and for worse, has not only influenced music, but fashion, film and advertising as well.

CLYDE YASUHARA

Sherman Oaks

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Camille Saint-Saens provides first original film score (1908) for “L’assassinat du Duc de Guise.� Magazine illustrator Windsor McKay introduces the animated “Gertie the Trained Dinosaur� (1909). Buster Keaton stars in the most expensive (and arguably the best) silent film, “The General� (1927). Walt Disney releases the first full-length animated feature, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs� (1937).

First Superman story published (Joe Shuster, Jerry Siegel, 1938). Jewish artists flee Nazis throughout ‘30s, many ending up living, working and enhancing the arts in L.A.

Hays Office (1930-1965) and Motion Picture Production Code mandate standards of decency on movie studio output. As with comics and TV, motion pictures enjoy a “Golden Age� despite (due to?) censorship.

Sam Peckinpah’s “The Wild Bunch� (1969) becomes the first “slasher� western, shooting down any restraint about gore on film. “All in the Family� (1971) breaks new ground in what can and cannot be said (and done) in prime time.

THOMAS CLEMENT

West Hills

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The publication of James Joyce’s “Ulysses,� a novel that revolutionized narrative structure and whose inventions have had an overwhelming influence on all the creative arts.

The first exhibition of Jackson Pollock’s “drip� paintings, which forced a rethinking of both the techniques and subject of visual art.

The appearance of Andy Warhol’s “Campbell’s Soup Can,� which set in motion an ongoing debate about the nature and role of art.

The release of Nirvana’s “Nevermind� album, followed by “In Utero� two years later, which took the punk aesthetic of the Sex Pistols one step further, fusing it with deeper psychological rumblings from the subterranean core of adolescent despair and dysfunction.

BARRY SMOLIN

host-producer,

“The Music Never Stops,�

KPFK-FM (90.7)

Los Angeles

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If you missed anything, it was May 16, 1929, at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, when the first Academy Awards were presented. Some may regard the show as a circus, but the award itself has become a symbol of achievement--not only to the nominees but to moviegoers around the world.

JERRY “ZAK� BARLOW

Mission Hills

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I can’t wait for the second half of the article that talks about the contributions from the other 50% of the world’s population--women!

KAREN MILLER

Orange

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The primary omission I noted was the almost total absence of any reference to sound recording. This technology, which is primarily a product of the 20th century, has been a major force for the democratization of music throughout the world.

JEROME R. SELMER

Arcadia

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The opening of the Panama Canal enabled a young and vital generation to come to California after studying at the prestigious institutions of New York and Paris, destined to lead a reshaping of California’s pictorial ideals.

These events were celebrated at the Panama-Pacific Exposition of 1915 held in San Francisco. Thus the California Impressionist movement was recognized by the world.

DON MANN

Malibu

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I believe you have forgotten some defining moments in film history like German Expressionism with films like “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari� and filmmakers like Murnau, Italian Neo-realism with “Rome, Open City� by Roberto Rossellini and Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey� the true beginning of the space- and effect-driven era of “Star Wars� and George Lucas.

LUCA BENTIVOGLIO

Santa Monica

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Radio’s golden and innovative years are ignored; specifically, the brilliant comedy programs and the great dramatic literature, especially that of Norman Corwin.

SIDNEY FALLENDER

Sherman Oaks

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The publication of “The Theater and Its Double� by the actor and theater theorist Antonin Artaud. The emergence of the Living Theater out of New York into the mainstream of the avant-garde of the 20th century. The “angry� renaissance of English playwrights, e.g., Osborne, Pinter, Wesker, Orton.

KEN RUGG

Long Beach

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Back in the late ‘20s and early ‘30s, Harry Barris, Bing Crosby and Al Rinker forever changed the way vocalists performed. They were the Rhythm Boys, and their actions and rhythmic breaks made songs a delight to see and hear.

ROBERT SHACKFORD

Laguna Beach

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March 1978, “Grease,� the movie, is released, staring Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta. This became the highest-grossing live-action film musical in history and was the transformation from sweet country singer to sexy pop singer for Newton-John.

BILL D’AMATO

president and founder,Forever & Always

Olivia Newton-John Fan Club

Sherman Oaks

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I was devastated when I realized that you had omitted literature from your overview altogether. Perhaps personal taste prohibited you from citing “Ulysses,� “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich� or “The Great Gatsby� as groundbreaking and influential 20 century works. That you left out the artistic genre altogether is inexcusable.

DARCELLE BLEAU

Huntington Beach

Editor’s note: Literature is not within Calendar’s area of expertise. We defer to the Los Angeles Times Book Review on such matters.

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Please don’t tell me that you, too, believe that the new millennium begins 1/1/2000.

As I look around me at the bombardment of media sources asking where I’ll be when the millennium turns in three months, I feel like Winston Smith in “Nineteen Eighty-Four� as he struggles to hold on to the concept that 2+2=4.

BRIAN J. CAVANAUGH

Hollywood