“Believe it or not, this used to be a fairly common dining experience, offered by more than 100 such establishments in the United States in the 1970s and 1980s.” There are still three left in the U.S., and CityLab visits the one in Mesa, Arizona, which has a Wurlitzer bigger than the organ at Radio City Music Hall. — CityLab
How Did The English Language Come To Be?
Is it fair to say it’s a mongrel language, drawing influence from all over. So it is important to remember that the formation of English was influenced by a huge range of ethnic and geographical forces. The emerging ‘England’ of this period was a melting pot. – BBC
What The Dance World Needs From Artistic Directors (And Doesn’t Always Get Enough Of)
“‘Oftentimes people get put into this position just because they were a star performer,’ says Sacramento Ballet artistic director Amy Seiwert. But leading a healthy, thriving dance company requires a lot more than charisma. Directors also need everything from business savvy to a commitment to nurturing their artists. So how can the dance world be more deliberate about shaping future leaders — and how can aspiring directors prepare themselves to succeed?” — Dance Magazine
Changing The Face Of Ballet, Both Onstage And Behind The Scenes
“Called ‘The Equity Project: Increasing the Presence of Blacks in Ballet,’ the three-year initiative, funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, is a partnership between Dance Theatre of Harlem, the International Association of Blacks in Dance and Dance/USA.” — Dance Magazine
How The Forward Burned Through Cash And Had To Give Up On Print
“The death of the Forward‘s print edition, and the slashes to its masthead, cap off decades of financial bleeding.” The publisher says the paper has run at a loss since 1945; recent losses have run to $5 million a year. The losses have been covered by drawing down its capital, which had already taken hits from the 2008 crash and Bernie Madoff’s scams. — Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Dancing Around The World
Matt Bray spent a year traveling all over the world filming himself dancing with whomever was where he was. He calls it the “1000 People of Dance” project, and it’s fun. – Mother Nature Network
Facebook’s Ten Year Challenge – The Perfect Way To Train Facial Recognition Programs?
Imagine that you wanted to train a facial recognition algorithm on age-related characteristics and, more specifically, on age progression (e.g., how people are likely to look as they get older). Ideally, you’d want a broad and rigorous dataset with lots of people’s pictures. It would help if you knew they were taken a fixed number of years apart—say, 10 years. – Wired
Movies Are Global – And That’s Changing Hollywood
Twenty years ago Hollywood earned 30 percent of its revenue internationally. Now it’s 70 percent. And that means what Hollywood makes is more and more influenced by the international market. – BBC
Study: UK Artists Earn An Average Of £16,150 – Only 1/3 Comes From Their Art
The research has shone new light on the portfolio careers of artists: 20% of respondents work three or more jobs, and of those taking jobs, a third have roles in fields with nothing to do with the arts. Similarly, the report finds only one in five visual artists believe their work/art balance is correct. — Arts Professional
Research: On Engaging With Art And Who Is Doing It
“One of the strongest things that struck us was how many people leading these programmes have an authentic belief in social justice, democracy and building social and cultural capital. We anticipated hearing about the ‘what’ and ‘how’ of audience engagement, but we didn’t expect to hear quite so much about the ‘why’. Interviewees talked passionately about empathy, listening, sharing power, trust, transparency, honesty and patience. Many rejected the deficit model that suggests that communities are lacking in some way that arts and culture can solve, while others were acutely aware of their responsibility in places that have suffered decades of disinvestment and neglect.” – Arts Professional
How Photography Became The Definitive Record
In “A Chronology of Photography” photojournalist Paul Lowe and his contributors detail the medium’s swift progression from the purview of the scientists who invented it (noted astronomer John Herschel coined the term “photograph” in 1839, combining the Greek words for “light” and “drawing”) to its adoption by entrepreneurs who established thousands of photographic studios to meet the growing demand among members of the middle class for images of themselves, something previously available only to the wealthy. – Washington Post
Remembering The Simplicity Of Mary Oliver
Her work touched millions of people deeply, and not only those who consider themselves poets or poetry lovers. Oliver’s work managed to do something rare: It reached people who didn’t particularly like or “get” contemporary poetry. – Washington Post
The Power Of Theatre: “Hamilton” In Puerto Rico
In bringing “Hamilton” to Puerto Rico, Lin Manuel Miranda called international attention to the island’s progress and also to its daunting obstacles. The island, in return, projected both its hopes and its frustrations onto the show. – The New Yorker
Everything Is (Could Be) A Museum Now
Cassie Grimaldi imagines some new contenders, such as the Center for Translation Of Vague Posts: “At this research center, linguists will work to interpret vague social-media posts, past and present, interrogating concepts such as “Who is this subtweet about?”; “What does this away message with unsubtle emo lyrics indicate about its author’s life?”; and “What does the Facebook status ‘don’t ask!!!’ actually suggest?” People will flock to the center to view its coveted Rosetta Stone: an emoji tableau.” – The New Yorker
The World’s Largest City Made Of Ice
Every winter the Harbin (China) Ice and Snow Festival assembles 200,000 blocks of ice to make a city. Millions come to see it. “The workers, most recruited from local villages, spend over a month each year cutting 3-foot-thick blocks of ice from the river and transporting them to the festival site, where they are sculpted and stacked by an even larger team of workers. Beginning before dawn and working through the day in temperatures that average -13 degrees Fahrenheit, the workers earn around $35 a day for some of the world’s most backbreaking labor.” – Wired
New Technology Coming Soon Will Fact Check Politicians In Real Time
Duke University researchers have developed the software. The new app for TV uses databases from Politifact and FactCheck.org to check statements made on live TV. – Washington Post (AP)
Netflix Spent $12 Billion On Video In 2018. It’s Only Going Up From There
After paying $15 billion for a “sustained ramp in its original content slate in ’19,” Netflix’s cash content spend growth will “moderate” in the years ahead, BMO Capital Markets analyst Daniel Salmon said in a research note. He anticipates Netflix’s content spending will hit $17.8 billion in 2020. – Variety
Did The People Around Robert Indiana Kidnap His “Brand” Before He Died?
It certainly looks that way. And now there are some recent sculptures (and ideas) that might need taking back… – The New York Times
Why Would Writers Sign Morality Clauses For Twitter?
“Off the top of my head, too-hot-to-handle topics now include anything to do with gender, sex, race, immigration, disability, social class, obesity and Islam (surely that list is too short). Writers who sign contracts with morality clauses would naturally shy from expressing views that depart from the dominant political orthodoxy, lest whole manuscripts be rejected and their advances be withdrawn.” – The Spectator
A Bad Idea Backed By Philosophy (Is Still A Bad Idea)
Sometimes philosophers argue for conclusions far outside the domain of ‘respectable’ positions; conclusions that could be hijacked by those with intolerant, racist, sexist or fundamentalist beliefs to support their stance. – Aeon
How Performing Arts Centers Are Evolving For The 21st Century
‘We really see that we have a role in creating pathways for creative people who are local and who are in the community to create work, have their ideas and get their work onto a stage – pathways for their work to find its way out into the wider world. And then the other way is pathways into this region, bringing work from the rest of the world to Geelong to keep us excited about what the arts are. That’s one of the ways that we’re starting to think about it for ourselves.’ – ArtsHub
Owner Of New Banksy Mural On Welsh Garage Sells It For Six-Figure Sum
Well, it’s one thing to do if you find a Banksy on your property one morning. The garage’s owner, Ian Lewis, has sold the piece, Seasons Greetings, to the Essex-based Banksy expert John Brandler but it will stay in Port Talbot, at least for the time being.” — The Guardian
New Multi-Million-Pound Regional Cultural Fund To Compensate For Local Funding Cuts
Administrators in the UK culture ministry took proposals for specific projects of up to £7 million. The first five winners, to share £20 million, are the Thames Estuary, Wakefield in Yorkshire, Worcester in the English Midlands, Grimsby in northeast England, and Plymouth in the southwest. — The Guardian