Jamal's "trademark was an ingeniously airy approach to classic pop standards such as 'Love for Sale,' 'A Gal in Calico' and 'Don’t Blame Me' or in his own groove-inflected compositions such as 'Ahmad’s Blues,' a song that became part of the jazz repertoire." - Washington Post
"The dimly lit space, which is sandwiched between a former Victorian public baths and a burger shop in Clapton, east London, is a cinematic Aladdin’s cave, its floor reduced to a narrow path between stacks and shelves of film paraphernalia." - The Guardian (UK)
"CTG seems to have received the message that local knowledge of a sprawling, culturally complex city is necessary to rebuilding the communal connection that had been fraying for years." - Los Angeles Times
How Cecily Brown moved from working as a waitress, farmer's market worker, and animator to being a working painter celebrated at the Met. - The Observer (UK)
"It’s meant to give people that beautiful release and time together as an audience, getting to have a really good time in the theatre. But then also, to choose your metaphor, to have the uranium rods for afterwards. ... I’m trying to make these things all exist together." - American Theatre
County commissioners agreed to keep the library open and restore some banned books, but the threat isn't over. A librarian who resigned explains not only how many horrible phone calls she received, but how important the library is for the community. - NPR
The designer of many of India's single-screen cinemas created "visually enticing places that transported you from the commonness of the streets and prepared you for the fantastical world of movies and storytelling that was to come." AMC, take notes. - BBC
"I desperately want everyone to witness the euphoric tactical flourishes and wonderful social interactions that a great board game can foster in the right environment, but I have also come to understand that for some people, a pile of cardboard will always be a pile of cardboard." - Slate
The Asia Society blamed a contractor for the blurring of two images in its show about the underworld. "We take responsibility for this error, but this was not an active choice to censor and is being corrected." - The New York Times
Let's rethink the whole thing. "Seeing a work of art as indissolubly linked with an individual creator’s technical skills is a worn-out myth. The further we develop, the more this link displays its conventionality." - Los Angeles Review of Books
Is that desk an antique, or is it a much more recent piece that's been, er, "restored"? One expert says, "Quite frankly, if you want something bright and shiny, buy something new." - The Observer (UK)
For one thing, it feels shockingly contemporary - and for another, "From its opening line, The Tale of Genji signals its author’s focus on how women steer the fate of the hero." - The New York Times
But Scholastic only wanted the book if author Maggie Tokuda-Hall removed all references to racism in her book about the imprisonment of thousands of Japanese Americans during WWII. - NPR
Respect the source material, pay for talent, use visual cues from the games, and pick wisely. (The latter seems like it might be the most difficult one to get right, considering how many adaptations have gone wrong. - Washington Post
