Joel Brown has the scoop over at HubArts.com:

There's a new contemporary art curator at the HUAM, Helen Molesworth, seen below. She arrives from the Wexner Center for the Arts.

What's interesting, when you read the press release, is that Molesworth is proudly presented as "the first full curator of contemporary art since the Art Museums established the department of modern and contemporary art in 1997." Sure, that's technically true. But Harvard, back in 1998, seemed pretty darn proud to have hired Linda Norden as its first curator of contemporary art. Oh, but she was just associate curator. Norden and HUAM parted ways earlier this year.

With the clocks turning back, with a nasty storm headed our way, perhaps it's time to face the music. That the Exhibitionist's mailbox is starting to fill with holiday performance releases.

We've got Christmas Revels, which will feature "music, dance and folklore from Germany and the Swiss Alps..."

Holiday Pops.

"The Nutcracker."

And don't look now, but the Rockettes are back. This photo actually came from the Boston Park Plaza, which has put together the "Radio City Rockettes" package: One night stay in the hotel, two seats to the show, for $269.

Brandeis zapped over a release telling us that it has been given Andy Warhol's portrait of Louis Brandeis, the late Supreme Court justice who inspired the creation of the university. The picture will be unveiled on Nov. 13, during a birthday celebration at the Shapiro Campus Center.

"An Argentine Jew, Golijov has strong influences of liturgy, klezmer and tango -- if you can imagine -- and is truly brilliant and exciting."

Now that was fast. Mark Feeney's story on the LeWitt project at MASS MoCA is up and running.

Here's the flyover shot, followed by floor plans.

Tomorrow, look for the Globe's story on MASS MoCA's collaboration with the Yale University Art Gallery on a $9 million project to convert a building on the North Adams campus into a Sol LeWitt retrospective to run through, yes, 2033. That is not a typo.

Sirius continues its free trial, which is worth a try for anyone tired of the over-formated mess that regular radio has become. Yesterday, Howard Stern managed to scare away his planned guest, Pete Townshend, which made for better radio than had the Who's songwriter appeared. Today, you should sample the rest, from opera to outlaw country to talk, both right and left leaning. Considering how much we spend on our cable TV bills, the monthly Sirius bill isn't much.

Tommy Johnson, the tuba man who so famously played the opening notes of the "Jaws" theme, has died.

Jesus Vs. Marty McFly.

The only artist in the Forbes list of top-earning dead celebrities is Andy Warhol, who drops from four last year to number six.

After the fashion show, here's an idea for the Museum of Fine Arts: A Kylie Minogue exhibition. And it's being done at the Victoria & Albert Museum, no less. The MFA and V & A have worked together before.

A Confession: I do not feel the pain as Tower Records goes down the tubes. The real question is what took so long. The Tower Records that opened on the corner of Newbury and Mass Ave - currently home of the soon-to-close Virgin Superstore - was a very cool place in the days of the Thompson Twins. The Harvard Square store - the local one that's closing - has always been a hacked-together mess.

The New York Times has the latest Tower appreciation.

Is this really worth crying over? I mean, isn't it a lot sadder that the listening booth culture of the '50s (below) eventually died? What about the preponderance of used stores run by hipster kids who played albums like "Hawaiian Hula Blues: Acoustic Steel Guitar Masterpieces 1927-1928." They're almost gone. And I miss the Planet Records in Kenmore Square, where I bought an Elvis Presley box set at exactly the moment the O.J. verdict went down. (No lines!) I longingly remember purchasing my first tape at the Chestnut Hill Mall. (The Cars.) That was purchased at the dead chain Good Vibrations. Or was it Coconuts?. That said, I was quite pleased to come home last night and, within minutes, download the hugely disappointing new Who single. (Did I just admit that?) Maybe, when the wireless Zune arrives, I'll be able to get the song while I'm crossing the Zakim.

The point is... Stop moping. It is going to be okay. And here's a hint for anybody longing for a good classical record store. Try Orpheus, which is just around the corner from the Virgin store. Somehow, I don't think it's going anywhere.

So the ICA opening party to be at, it turns out, is on Saturday night, December 2. That's the bash being thrown for donors, museum directors, artists, and others able to score an invite.

For all you Mayor Menino groupies, two days later, on a Monday morning, the official ribbon-cutting takes place. In case you missed our earlier post, here's a rough sketch of the first week of activity in December.

Sometimes, aspiring Hemingways, it is important to write to your best picture. So who is the man below? We don't know. We can tell you that he has embarked on a valuable relationship with the Van de Graaff generator. Why should we care? Because over the weekend, the country's top movie, "The Prestige," included a shout out to the Museum of Science during the credits. Last June, producers visited the MoS to record sounds from the museum's Van de Graaff generator and Tesla coil.

This comes courtesy of Joan Anderman, on Sound Effects.

Joan says... "I called Tower Records in Harvard Square this morning to see if CD prices are going down in anticipation of the store's closing. Alas, inventory is still only 20% off. The clerk who answered the phone (his cheerful greeting was "Tower liquidation") said they'll likely push it to 25% next week. Discounts will eventually go as high as 75% as the chain's final days near. If any of this means anything to you, check out my story about the death of the record superstores."

The Chronicle of Philanthropy has released, on its website, the top 400 charities, and the Museum of Fine Arts is the lone Boston museum to crack the list. The MFA rolls in at 239, nothing close to other local charities such as the Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund (6), Harvard (18), or Partners Healthcare System (65) but ahead of every other Boston cultural organization. Not surprisingly, the Museum of Modern Art ranks first in arts and culture, and 57th overall, with $239 million in private support. (The MFA is at just over $67 million.) Three of the top five institutions are in New York, with the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston ranking second in arts and culture with $210 million raised.

The Americans for the Arts Action Fund PAC put out its congressional arts report card today. The results aren't altogether shocking. In the Massachusetts delegation, only Representative Stephen F. Lynch, with a "B" grade, scores below an "A." Texas, Utah, Arizona and Colorado are among the states with a number of flunkies.

Suzan-Lori Parks, winner of MIT's Eugene McDermott Award, will speak at the institute on Thursday at 7 p.m.

The Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater has added a bunch of staff people. The theater, which is building a $5 million venue set to open in the spring, adds Jeffry George (Managing Director), Deborah Magee (Director of Development), Bette Warner (Director of Marketing), and Marianne Lampke (publicist).

If you're a member of the Institute of Contemporary Art, you have now received a letter meant to help plan your first visit to the museum's new building.

For members, the ICA is open 11 to 3 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 3 for the first time, with additional hours Tuesday through Friday. The charter members will also be treated to preview parties on Thursday (6 to 8 p.m. for families) and Saturday (6 p.m. to midnight for individual and dual members.) Members of the New Group and Supporting and Sustaining level members can party on Thursday, 8 p.m. to midnight.

The grand opening - for the public - is Sunday, Dec. 10, of course.

Though the events are for "members only," please don't wear your "Members Only" jacket.

Be prepared. Apple's digital player turns five today, and that means a slew of stories on its impact.

Forbes reminds us of all the players (remember the Rio?) that failed to compete.

Business Week speculates on the potential for going wireless.

The Los Angeles Times has a straight piece on Sony's attempt to get back into the game.

PC World gives us five lessons learned from the iPod.

Not to be a buzzkill, but maybe this is a good time to take a step back and realize that the Pod, while sleek and portable and so conveniently able to store all your Steve Reich, is just the latest in a long line of music-playing inventions.

Remember, the latest, greatest new thing is always just around the corner.

Doug Yeo tells me our story on Saturday sparked a surge of activity surrounding the Boston Symphony Orchestra Trombone Quartet, believed to the earliest group of BSO musicians to record.

First, to take care of business... Our sound links are still not up and running, but Yeo has posted both of the 1906 recordings.

"The Kerry Dance"
"Nearer, My God, To Thee"

But don't stop there. Never mind that Yeo had a series of concerts to play over the last few days. He has a lengthy entry on his site related to the trombonists. What's more, Yeo has been contacted by the great-granddaughter's of Leroy Kenfield and Carl Hampe. He's seeing the Kenfield woman Friday, and she apparently has a scrapbook from 1898-1910.

Yeo promises updates as information comes in, and he's growing more confident that we might, indeed, be able to find out the identity of the mystery, fourth player.