“There was, for one, the problem of the RV. Motor homes are very rare in Colombia, hence the old school bus that serves as Walter and Jose’s roving meth lab. And Colombian lawyers don’t market their services with over-the-top TV ads … [so] Saúl Bueno hosts a late-night talk show – Cuéntele a Saúl.” (But yes, the lead character is named Walter Blanco.)
Do We Want Poetry? Better: Do We Need Poetry?
“Poetry is dead by capitalism’s standards—it is not an obvious moneymaking venture, despite traceable employment and readings’ payoffs via the academy—and that emboldens some folks limited by capitalist blinders to herald poetry’s last breath.”
Coming Soon: Multi-Story Towers Made of Fungus
To be more specific, they’ll be made of fungus and corn stalks. They’ll be at MoMA’s P.S. 1 outpost this summer.
Keeping Pina Bausch’s Company Vital, Five Years After Her Death
“Five years on, what once seemed unlikely has happened. The two men who stepped up to the artistic directorship [after Bausch died suddenly] … have handed over the reins of the company to another former dancer, Lutz Förster. The transition appears seamless: the company continues to perform to the highest standards, and is more popular than it has ever been.”
Is Social Media Cranking Up The Outrage Meter Too High?
“Fewer and fewer people try to seek common ground now. Instead, they and their crew fill your @replies, trying to dominate, no matter the subject, you name it. Doesn’t matter. The bell rings and everyone comes off the bleachers. Every day, every topic, is treated like Bush vs. Gore.”
Ideas Are The Root Of Success. But Are We Now Getting Too Many Good Ideas?
“Our hyperconnected world may be moving toward a state in which there is too much idea flow. In a world of echo chambers, fads and panics are the norm — and so it is much harder to make good decisions.”
The Forgotten Women Of Great Literary History
When Claire Tomalin began her research into Dickens’s mistress, she found that Nelly Ternan had “vanished into thin air”. Nora, Véra, Zelda and Nelly are writers’ Wags, which in this case stands for “wives and ghosts” – and the best ghost stories have long been found in literary biographies.
Why This Canadian Rock Band Is Invoicing The Pentagon For $666,000
“Skinny Puppy learned that its music was being played to prisoners at Guantanamo Bay during interrogations to “inflict damage”. Understandably, the band was “offended” when a fan, who happened to be a guard at Gitmo, told them this was happening.”
Los Angeles Loses Seven Percent Of Its Entertainment Industry Jobs
“Within the industry, movie and video production – which accounts for the bulk of entertainment employment – posted the biggest decline, down by 7,800 jobs, or 7.2%, since 2007.”
Do Humans Have a Hard-Wired Preference for Where We Walk?
Wayne Curtis suggests that our naturally preferred landscape for perambulation may be the “keyhole pathway” – a steady promenade under a canopy of, say, vines on a high trellis or Spanish moss-draped oaks.
Documentary Oscar Nomination for ‘The Square’ Causes (More) Controversy in Egypt
Producer Karim Amer: “You’re entering a space where the dust hasn’t settled in a time when certain groups are trying to rewrite history.”
Oprah Plans Her Broadway Debut
“Oprah Winfrey is in talks to make her Broadway debut in a revival of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play ‘night, Mother, starring opposite Tony-Award winner Audra McDonald as a mother struggling to stop her daughter from killing herself.”
Behind the Scenes With the Paris Opera Ballet in Dubai
“Karl Paquette collapses in a heap, stage left. … His dance partner, the première danseuse Valentine Colasante, stands a little way away, chest heaving, hands on thighs, as their instructor, or ‘balletmaster’, Laurent Novis talks them through their performance.”
German Museum Cancels Balthus Show Over Pedophilia Worries
“The Museum Folkwang in Essen has cancelled a planned exhibition of Polaroids by the French-Polish artist Balthus featuring a model called Anna who posed for him from the age of eight to 16. The museum … decided not to stage the show because it ‘could lead to unwanted legal consequences and the closure of the exhibition’.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 02.06.14
Detroit Detritus: Critics of Detroit Institute’s “Grand Bargain” Dig for Dirt (and u…
Source: CultureGrrl | Published on 2014-02-06
Dürer Vs. Rembrandt Vs. Cranach Vs…
Source: Real Clear Arts | Published on 2014-02-07
Are the Arts Only For the Rich?
Source: CultureCrash | Published on 2014-02-06
Fostering critical response to complex experience
Source: The Artful Manager | Published on 2014-02-06
Museum Secrets: Instructive Audit In St. Louis
Source: Real Clear Arts | Published on 2014-02-06
[ssba_hide]
Something You Should Know: America’s Public Libraries Are Wildly Popular
“Public libraries circulated 2.46 billion materials last year, the greatest volume in 10 years. Over this same period, the circulation of children’s book and materials increased by more than 28 percent. Attendance at library-hosted programs for kids hit 60.5 million in 2013.”
When The Real Philomena Met The Pope (It Happened Yesterday)
“The Holy Father does not see films, and will not be seeing this one. It is also important to avoid using the Pope as part of a marketing strategy.”
Mamoru Samuragochi’s “Ghost” Composer Questions Whether He Is Deaf
“His ghost composer, Takashi Niigaki, said he provided music for Samuragochi for 18 years and questioned if he was hearing impaired.”
Asia’s Rise As An Opera Superpower
Some 50 new opera houses have been completed or are near completion, and many more are planned. “Chinese people love foreign music, but in the past we couldn’t listen to it.”
A Warning About What Funding Cuts Will Do To UK Theatre Community
“The theatre world will slowly become smaller and smaller, and populated by the same people, who are the sons and daughters of the same people, because nobody else can afford to do it.”
Stolen Strad Reportedly Recovered
“The 300-year-old Stradivarius violin that was taken in an armed robbery last month has been found, law enforcement sources told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.”
Understanding America’s Progress Towards Giving Artists Royalties On Resales
“When supporters of resale royalties in the US seek to advance their arguments, they usually look to other countries for supporting evidence—starting with France, which originated droit de suite in 1920 and now works on the EU model of a sliding scale up to 4%, capped at €12,500. They tend to overlook the California act.”
UNESCO Stops Unauthorized Reconstruction of Bamiyan Buddhas
“The international community has reacted furiously to news that a German-led team of archaeologists has been reconstructing the feet and legs of the smaller of the two Bamiyan Buddhas, the monumental Afghan sculptures blown up by the Taliban in 2001.”
218 Authors Sign Open Letter Protesting Russian ‘Chokehold’ on Free Expression
The letter, organized by PEN International and signed by four Nobel laureates (Grass, Soyinka, Jelinek and Pamuk) as well as Salman Rushdie, Margaret Atwood, Neil Gaiman, Lyudmila Ulitskaya, and many others, says that recent laws against “gay propaganda”, blasphemy and defamation “specifically put writers at risk.”