Tuesday's Art Notes

_Jorvan Conroy helps his son Reuben, 10, a member of the Viking Jarl Squad, with his helmet at the start of the annual Up Helly Aa Festival, in Lerwick, Shetland Islands. Up Helly Aa celebrates the influence of the Scandinavian vikings in the Shetland Islands and has employed this theme in the festival since 1870. The event culminates with up to 1000 'guizers' (men in costume) throwing flaming torches into a Viking longship. Photo by Carl De Souza/ AFP/ Getty Images_ * "Ticketmaster has merged with the world's biggest concert promotor, Live Nation":http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60O4E520100126, to become Live Nation Entertainment, after receiving approval on Monday from the U.S. Justice Department. * Laughlin Phillips "has died at age 85":http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/25/AR2010012503741.html. A former CIA agent and magazine publisher, he is also remembered as being the man to revitalize the "Phillips Collection":http://www.phillipscollection.org/, a museum founded in Washington, D.C., by his family. * Who is the real person behind the enigmatic smile? Italian scientists and historians want to test a theory that the Mona Lisa is actually a self-portrait "by digging up the skull of the artist Leonardo da Vinci":http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2010/01/crazed_art_historians_in_hilar.html. * The Boston Globe "praises good design for the poor":http://www.boston.com/ae/theater_arts/articles/2010/01/24/boston_architectural_firm_the_narrow_gate_serves_only_those_in_need/?page=full, while the New York Times bemoans "poor design for the bourgeouis":http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/25/arts/25iht-design25.html?ref=design.