Monster Mash: A change of plan for MOCA’s Deitch; top design prize for a lowly plug; ‘Sex’ on sale

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--New approach: Although he was supposed to liquidate his New York-based business before arriving here in June, Jeffrey Deitch says he expects to sell -- but not deal in -- art after he assumes the top job at L.A.’s Museum of Contemporary Art. (Los Angeles Times)

--Bright idea: A folding electrical plug beat out fashion, furniture and aeronautical creations from around the world to win a British design contest (last year’s prize went to Shepard Fairey’s Barack Obama stencil poster). (Guardian)

--High notes: San Francisco Opera’s Merola training program did well at this year’s Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions as three of its graduates were winners and two others were finalists. (Sacramento Bee)

--Brave New World: The dark history of European colonization and the vibrant cultures of the Pacific and the Americas will be the focus of this year’s Edinburgh international festival. (Guardian)

--Adding it up: A benefit concert for Haitian quake relief -- starring pianist Lang Lang, conductor Christoph Eschenbach and the Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra -- shows just how expensive it is to make music at Carnegie Hall. (New York Times)

--Blue period: An estimated $2.8 million in art, design and photography pieces with erotic or suggestive themes will be offered by the New York-based Phillips de Pury & Co. at a London auction simply titled ‘Sex.’ (Bloomberg)

Also in the L.A. Times: Music critic Mark Swed on Hanoi’s attempts to become a modern art center; the financially troubled Pasadena Playhouse hopes to begin figuring out a recovery plan within weeks.

--Karen Wada