“The Vatican said on Sunday it had received a ransom demand for the return of two rare documents written by Renaissance master Michelangelo that were stolen from its archives nearly 20 years ago.”
How Our Attention Is Being Stolen From Us
“Attention is a resource; a person has only so much of it. And yet we’ve auctioned off more and more of our public space to private commercial interests, with their constant demands on us to look at the products on display or simply absorb some bit of corporate messaging. Lately, our self-appointed disrupters have opened up a new frontier of capitalism, complete with its own frontier ethic: to boldly dig up and monetize every bit of private head space by appropriating our collective attention.”
“The Notion That No Current Popular Music Is Of Quality Is Philistine”: Robert Christgau Lets Loose
“Christgau – who under the influence of a glass of iced coffee was sometimes so intense that he would not let his interlocutor finish a sentence – spoke from his home in New York” with Scott Timberg.
Philadelphia’s Prince Music Theater Saved
“Coming to a choice parcel on Chestnut Street just west of Broad: neither a chic new condominium nor another drugstore. The Prince Music Theater isn’t going anywhere. The defunct theater in the center of town was sold Thursday to the Philadelphia Film Society – a transaction that not only gives the film group a new home, but also preserves the hall’s role for arts groups that cannot afford pricier venues like the Kimmel Center.”
American Tourists Caught Carving Names Into Rome’s Colosseum
“The Californians, aged 21 and 25, snuck away from their tour group on Saturday and began scratching their initials into the amphitheatre with a coin. They managed a ‘J’ and an ‘N’ around 8cm high, before taking a selfie with their handiwork.”
Netflix Is Heading To Spain (Probably)
“Since last year, when Spain was left out of Netflix’s launch in six new European countries, at least two factors have changed.”
Who Stole (And Then Returned) An Oscar Murillo Painting From The Floor Of MoMA?
“Doyle said that the painting was unharmed, adding that ‘no action such as an arrest was taken.’ The painting was returned to the floor of the gallery, where, she said, ‘the museum will assure that there is the appropriate level of security in the exhibition.’ She did not say how the museum was able to identify the person who took the work, describing that as a ‘security matter.'”
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Musicians Air Grievances On The Eve Of Season Announcement
“Fifteen years ago, full-time orchestra members numbered 98 — 96 players and the two librarians. BSO members would like that level restored, something that would take a boost to the orchestra’s $27 million budget.”
The Brooklyn Filmmaker Who Says There’s Room For More Than Just Lena Dunham At The Table
Desiree Akhavan: “I don’t see my male counterparts written about in the same way, as being the new Woody Allen, or the new Noah Baumbach, or Todd Solondz. I think the implication is that there is a limited amount of space for an intelligent, funny woman and right now it’s Lena Dunham. You can hang out, but the space has been occupied. But there is an infinite pool for men to play in.”
British People Don’t Think Simon Rattle Can Singlehandedly Save Music Education
“Rattlemania, egged on by a self-interested cultural mafia, has got out of hand. The problem with the arts in the UK is there is no concrete policy for music and the other art forms.”
Let’s Talk About Philip Guston’s Paintings, And How He Achieved Eerie Contemporary Status
“In much the same way as Brahms composed variations on themes from Haydn, Handel, Paganini, and Schumann, making their melodies his own by means of elaborate musical embroidery, Guston proved a skilled adapter of diverse sources, motifs, and mannerisms that came together in his hands as compelling, if still formative, works.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs For 03.08.15
Dueling With the Dean: Rock Crit Robert Christgau
AJBlog: CultureCrashPublished 2015-03-08
Lew Soloff, 1944-2015
AJBlog: RiffTidesPublished 2015-03-08 Evolution of Postmodernism
AJBlog: Infinite CurvesPublished 2015-03-07
AJBlog: RiffTidesPublished 2015-03-08 Evolution of Postmodernism
AJBlog: Infinite CurvesPublished 2015-03-07
AJBlog: PostClassicPublished 2015-03-07
The Internet Is Bad. The Internet Is Good. The Internet Is … A Trip.
“Being able to see hundreds, or thousands, or tens of thousands of people unwittingly having the same thoughts at the same time in plain view is, ironically, something that makes the internet really intimate.”
Brecht And Weill’s Opera Has Regained Its Bite In The Huge Economic Imbalances Of The 21st Century
“Its story is so contemporary, though, that it could almost have been written yesterday. It charts the creation, supposedly in America, of a city of pleasure with no history and no moral compass – and its destruction in a morass of consumerist malaise and addiction, with inhabitants put to death for the crime of having no money.”
The High Drama Of Curating London’s Serpentine Gallery
“Obrist (HUO to his colleagues) regularly tops lists of art’s most powerful. His network of proteges and followers extends around the world, and back again. There cannot be an artist alive of any note who has not had dealings with him of one kind or another. (Though it must be said that not everyone is convinced.)”
Yay? A Third Comic Book Universe Joins The Cinematic Fray
In case you’re feeling like there aren’t enough superhero movies out there, Valiant “has a library of 2,000 characters, including X-O Manowar and Harbinger, and films based on the titles Bloodshot, Shadowman, and Archer & Armstrong were already in the works.”