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Feels Like 2020 And 2021 All Over Again As A Pixar Film Skips Theatres For The Home Screen

Of course, the Mouse - Pixar's parent company - is putting a good spin on it: "Subscribers around the world enthusiastically embraced Pixar’s Academy Award-winning Soul and the critically-acclaimed Luca when they premiered exclusively on the service." - Variety

Why A 2004 Two-Muppet-And-A-Rock Clip Went Absolutely Viral In Early 2021

Perhaps it's obvious, but just to be clear: "The rock is a metaphor for pandemic denialism, and Elmo represents the vaccinated — those who, now in year three of pandemic life, are fed up with the false beliefs surrounding Covid-19." - The New York Times

In Britain, Indie Bookstores Had Another Fantastic Year

Can this last? "For the first time in almost a decade, more than 1,000 indies are open for business: it is a sector thriving against the odds." - The Guardian (UK)

The Non-Disney Version Of Winnie-the-Pooh Is In The Public Domain

What does that mean for artists who love the OG Pooh Bear? - Washington Post

Los Angeles Arts Groups Are Trying To Figure Out How To Go On Through Omicron

Center Theatre Group and the LA Phil aren't canceling - and aren't planning to cancel - shows, at least not at the moment. CTG's managing director says, "We are trying to avoid changing too often and creating audience whiplash." - Los Angeles Times

Bookcore Is A New (Old) Look For A Weary New Year

"Bookcore is an amalgamation of the last five years of trends: normcore, gorpcore, dadcore, vintage, 1990s sportswear, American trad, Westernwear, Native American jewelry, pleats, dad caps, wide-legged trousers, oversized eyewear, Balmacaans, leather blazers, Patagonia, chunky sneakers, intentionally ugly shoes, etc." - LitHub

Understanding The Role Of Emotions

Being in the throes of an emotion influences a great many things: your memory, what you see, the inferences you draw about the world, how you learn new things, how you interpret ambiguous stimuli, and much more. - Psychology Today

For A Long Time The Purpose Of Art Was To Shock Against Norms. But Why?

Somewhere in the 19th century the notion develops that a work of art can be most effective when it’s ugly, when it deeply mirrors certain social realities and presents them in such a way that the audience is spurred to immediate action. - 3AM Magazine

Want To Be A Successful Artist? Find A Rival

A study of composers during from 1750-1899 discovered that they were significantly more productive when they lived in close proximity to other composers. The most likely way of accounting for this is the inherent rivalry that arises when creative people encounter each other daily. - Ted Gioia

The “Change” Binary Of Music

The urge to be static rose concurrently with the urge to change. And so, in the twenty-first century, we’re presented with a choice: to look ahead or to look down. Not back or backwards, not into the past (because pastness cannot be and is not always equated with stasis), but down. - NewMusicBox

Music Critic Richard Freed, 93

Mr. Freed was active for six decades, contributing regularly to The Washington Post, the New York Times and the old Washington Star, among many other publications. He had an extended association with Stereo Review. - Washington Post

IMAX: Time To Rethink What Movies Are

For the right kind of movie, people really want a cultural, theatrical experience. Period. And they want to see the right kind of movie in a communal way with their friends and their family, and they want to share it the way they’ve always shared it. - Fast Company

Martin Luther’s German Bible Is Now 500 Years Old

Some colorful facts surrounding one of history's most consequential translations: Luther wrote it while a fugitive; some first editions included woodcuts by Lucas Cranach; in the room where it was written there's a stain on the wall because Luther allegedly threw his inkwell at the Devil. - Deutsche Welle

Anger As Motivating Force

As almost anyone can confirm, manifest anger is by its nature felt and received with an intense immediacy, bringing to life the bodily and emotional resonances of the word ‘feelings’. And yet it is also peculiarly slippery, liable to hide and dissemble, to disguise. - Aeon

A Rusty Old Water Tank In The Australian Outback Becomes A Chapel Of Music And Light

Deep in the red-dirt semidesert of interior New South Wales, composer Georges Lentz and architect Glenn Murcutt created the Cobar Sound Chapel, visually a cross between Peter Zumthor and James Turrell, with a 24-hour "digital string quartet" by Lentz on loop. - T — The New York Times Style Magazine

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