Exactly two months after the company’s headquarters and school finished a major renovation, eight feet of water “tore through the building, smashing windows, destroying the newly installed floors, technology, music books, costumes, photos – everything.”
‘We Can Get Up In Each Other’s Faces So Easily’ – Language In America In 2015
Linguist John McWhorter talks to Scott Timberg about ‘black bodies and the ‘blaccent’, gender and the pronoun ‘they’, and heated rhetoric and social media.
Is The LA Review Of Books A New Model For Literary Criticism?
Now publishing 1,500 pieces a year, with several new reviews, essays, and interviews on its main page each day, it has made its mark on criticism, spawning an “LARB style,” as Brian T. Edwards, a professor of English at Northwestern University, put it at a standing-room-only forum on the state of criticism at last year’s Modern Language Association convention.
Critic Once Argued For More Booing; Now He Takes It All Back
Martin Kettle: “I have got what I wished for – only now I don’t like it. … The threshold is so low that the boos rarely mean anything. Except, of course, to the person being booed. Performers and players have always lived with fear of failure and the audience. But why make these things worse so cavalierly?”
NBC’s TODAY Show Meets The Exciting Young Woman Conductor At The L.A. Phil
“TODAY’s Harry Smith speaks with Los Angeles Philharmonic [assistant] conductor Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla about what it’s like to be a young female in such a traditionally male role.” (video)
Fears Of Another All-White Academy Awards
“There’s a strong chance this year’s acting awards will once again be heavily, perhaps exclusively, white, despite the efforts of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to diversify the organization.”
The Prison Inmate Who Became Buddies With Samuel Beckett And Started Theater Companies In And Outside Of Prison
“In prison, Cluchey received an education on what it was to be on Beckett’s stage. It allowed him to love Beckett’s work. That, in turn, made him into a man Beckett himself could love.”
Five Booksellers Go Missing In Hong Kong
“It’s not uncommon in mainland China for company executives and dissidents to be detained for lengthy periods by the authorities or vanish without anyone claiming responsibility, but the disappearances are unprecedented in Hong Kong and have shocked the city’s publishing industry.”
As Accordion Store Departs, Music Row Is Gone
“‘Musically, it’s kind of depressing,’ Mario Tacca, an accordion player and longtime patron of Music Row, said. ‘I guess it’s part of the new world that we’re living in. The old world is kind of disappearing slowly. It’s kind of sad to see.'”
Hollywood And Fake Diversity
Director Lexi Alexander: “We now have Hollywood power people organizing diversity camps, which we get to read about in articles that include hilariously gung-ho diversity quotes from the worst … no let me write this in capitol letters THE WORST diversity offenders of Hollywood. And nobody bats an eye. Not a single entertainment reporter thinks to compare these people’s diversity record against the story they’re spinning.”
How To Control Your Facebook Feed
“Every time you open Facebook, one of the world’s most influential, controversial, and misunderstood algorithms springs into action. It scans and collects everything posted in the past week by each of your friends, everyone you follow, each group you belong to, and every Facebook page you’ve liked. For the average Facebook user, that’s more than 1,500 posts. If you have several hundred friends, it could be as many as 10,000. Then, according to a closely guarded and constantly shifting formula, Facebook’s news feed algorithm ranks them all, in what it believes to be the precise order of how likely you are to find each post worthwhile.”
Who Stole Lincoln’s Hand From This Illinois Museum?
“Museum officials had thought that the theft might have been a prank, and that the plaster study would resurface in a few days. The police hoped someone might provide information about the theft after seeing a Facebook post by the department, which included photographs and described the hand as roughly ‘the size of a 8-10 pound ham.’ The local newspaper, The Daily Journal, published an editorial pleading for the thief to come forward.”
‘Close Encounters’ And ‘Deer Hunter’ Cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond Dies At 85
“In a career that spanned over five decades in Hollywood, Zsigmond continued to work well into his later years. He shot a number of episodes of ‘The Mindy Project’ from 2012 to 2014 as well as several films that have yet to be released.”
Oscars Still So White (What’s Up With That?)
“The academy found itself on the defensive last year when white actors earned all 20 of the nominations in the lead and supporting categories. The topic came to define the Academy Awards so much that host Neil Patrick Harris opened the ceremony by quipping: ‘Tonight we honor Hollywood’s best and whitest. Sorry, brightest.'”
Top Posts From AJBlogs For 01.13.16
Happy Birthday, and What That Means
One hundred years ago, the last emperor of China abdicated; the Saturday Evening Post published its first Norman Rockwell cover; war raged in Europe and the Near East; Gregory Peck was born; and the Cleveland… … read more
AJBlog: Real Clear ArtsPublished 2016-01-03
AJBlog: Real Clear ArtsPublished 2016-01-03
Technically Definable, Therefore Existent
Having been unexpectedly drawn into writing here about grid-pulse postminimalism, I’ve decided to publish my most important article on the topic here, because the book it’s in is prohibitively expensive, and I need people to… … read more
AJBlog: PostClassicPublished 2016-01-03
Having been unexpectedly drawn into writing here about grid-pulse postminimalism, I’ve decided to publish my most important article on the topic here, because the book it’s in is prohibitively expensive, and I need people to… … read more
AJBlog: PostClassicPublished 2016-01-03
Ben Hecht on the Real Margaret Anderson
Margaret AndersonI’ve been re-reading Ben Hecht’s massive 1954 memoir, A Child of the Century, which Gary Giddins rightly calls “his masterpiece.” I think of it as Bennie’s wised-up wisdom book. It reads for delicious stretches… … read more
AJBlog: Straight|UpPublished 2016-01-03
Margaret AndersonI’ve been re-reading Ben Hecht’s massive 1954 memoir, A Child of the Century, which Gary Giddins rightly calls “his masterpiece.” I think of it as Bennie’s wised-up wisdom book. It reads for delicious stretches… … read more
AJBlog: Straight|UpPublished 2016-01-03
Weekend Extra: JATP Living History
Bill Kirchner sent a link to a photograph published by Joe Gromelski in the current issue of Stars and Stripes, the US military newspaper. Frankfurt, West Germany, March, 1956: The stars of the “Jazz at… … read more
AJBlog: RiffTidesPublished 2016-01-02
Bill Kirchner sent a link to a photograph published by Joe Gromelski in the current issue of Stars and Stripes, the US military newspaper. Frankfurt, West Germany, March, 1956: The stars of the “Jazz at… … read more
AJBlog: RiffTidesPublished 2016-01-02
Progress for Women at Vienna Philharmonic
For the first time in three years, William Osborne, an expert on the sociology of German-speaking orchestras, has posted an update about the latest developments at the VPo. “It’s the most positive I’ve ever written,”… … read more
AJBlog: Straight|UpPublished 2015-12-31
For the first time in three years, William Osborne, an expert on the sociology of German-speaking orchestras, has posted an update about the latest developments at the VPo. “It’s the most positive I’ve ever written,”… … read more
AJBlog: Straight|UpPublished 2015-12-31
The Perennial Fiction of Nature
I found something I liked yesterday in an interview with Robert Wilson: He eschews “the lie” of naturalism on stage and sees artificiality as “more honest”. Hence he was a perfect fit with Lady Gaga,… … read more
AJBlog: PostClassicPublished 2015-12-31
I found something I liked yesterday in an interview with Robert Wilson: He eschews “the lie” of naturalism on stage and sees artificiality as “more honest”. Hence he was a perfect fit with Lady Gaga,… … read more
AJBlog: PostClassicPublished 2015-12-31
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Hollywood Had A Banner Year – Except That Underneath The Big Earners, Many Movies Flopped
“A startling number of big-budget movies bombed in 2015, proving that no amount of marketing can pull audiences into theaters at a time when Netflix queues are long and social media spreads word about a stinker in a heartbeat.”
When Journalism Catches Hollywood’s Eye, Hollywood Needs To Do More Reporting
“It seems inevitable that filmmakers will continue to make movies about journalists, especially if ‘Truth’ and ‘Spotlight’ receive Oscar nominations. And dramatic license is something journalists will have to get used to, if they’re not already. The real question is whether the movies will ever truly understand the difference between good reporting and bad, as Mr. McCarthy did and Mr. Vanderbilt did not. Don’t get your hopes up. It’s the movies after all.”
Inspired By Vélasquez
“The moment you set eyes on them, you know that these beautiful people will die, that they are already dead and gone, and yet they live in the here and now of this moment, brief and bright as fireflies beneath the sepulchral gloom. And what keeps them here, what keeps them alive, or so the artist implies, is not just the painting but you.”
Movies The Oscar Nominations Will Overlook, But Shouldn’t
“It happens every year. Some actor stands next to another performer or the president of the Academy … and they take turns telling you what’s up for an Oscar. Which means they’re also telling you what’s not. And ‘what’s not’ tends to be as important as what is. And every year, I’m left wondering whether months of punditry and daily forecasts of awards-season weather pollutes what was scarcely a pure process to begin with.”