The Awl charts the entire course, from the Conception Phase and Underground Phase, through the Indie and Hipster Phases, into and out of the Top 40, to the Shame Phase and beyond. (Not to forget the karaoke afterlife.)
Why We Shouldn’t Trust People Who Predict The Future
“Why? Because there’s money in it; money and faith. I don’t just mean the few millions to be made from book sales; nor do I mean the simple geek belief in gadgetry. And I certainly don’t mean the pallid, undefined, pop-song promises of politicians trying to turn our eyes from the present – Bill Clinton’s “Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow” and Tony Blair’s “Things can only get better”. No, I mean the billions involved in corporate destinies and the yearning for salvation from our human condition.”
How Can You Be Against World Literature?
What does a critic oppose, exactly, when she takes a stand “against world literature”?
Two-On-One: A Novelist And Her Editors
“As is the case with many novelists with an international profile, Emma Donoghue has more than one editor. … The Canadian novelist and her two editors [form Canada and the U.S.] talk about sharing responsibilities, resolving disputes, and the long list of ideas Donoghue has waiting for the novels to express them.”
Japan’s Big Pop Star Of The Moment Is A Hologram
“Even by the standards of pop stars, Hatsune Miku is eccentric and protean, her mystique elusive. Her eyes are too round and blue to be real. She can be buxom or boyish, and almost painfully sultry – all in a droid-ish, understated way. … And yet she never fails to elude the paparazzi.”
How Social Media Is Changing The Novel
The all-encompassing “age of social” is having a more profound effect on creative endeavour and the novel is no exception.
Relationships Between Fans And Creators Is Changing (But Some Of That Is An Illusion)
“People who create television – and all media, for that matter – have to navigate a sometimes awkward public/private balance when they go online. Many of them are present, and visible, and sometimes they do engage with fans, but just because you can tweet at someone doesn’t mean that it’s a dialogue.”
Major Broadway Tours Can Linger Longer In N.Y. Before, You Know, Touring
That’s because of a new tax break meant to stave off poaching from other states: “State lawmakers included the incentive in their recent budget after Louisiana, Illinois, and Rhode Island began luring nascent productions away with their own live-theater incentives.”
For The First Time, Online Advertisers Spend More Online Than On TV
Overall, online advertising revenue climbed 17% to a record $42.8 billion in the U.S. in 2013; by comparison, revenue generated from advertising on broadcast TV came in at $40.1 billion last year.
Ban Internet Slang? For Realz?
It’s an interesting cultural moment: on the one hand, the self-appointed cyberhustler experts in the “future of news” spend their time mocking the fustiness of old media; on the other hand, a star online destination wants to sound more like one of its paper-based predecessors.
Musicians Union Files Injunction Against London’s National Theatre After Theatre Fires Its Musicians
“If granted, the injunction would mean the musicians could continue to play their instruments in the show until a decision is made at a final hearing.”
The Sad Case Of The Orchestra Executive Director Charged With Embezzlement
“When Stephen Jay Carlton was hired on July 1, 2009, at an annual salary of $75,000 plus full medical benefits, the balance sheet for the Symphony at the fiscal year ending June 2009 showed about $500,000 in endowment funds with close to $10,000 in the checking account. On Sept. 20, 2013, when the alleged fraud began to unravel, there was $1,400 in endowment funds and $0 in the checking account.”
San Diego Opera Chairman Says Board Wants To Save Company ‘In Some Form’
Karen Cohn: “We are exploring every possible idea for creating an economically sustainable way to preserve the current opera company in some form. And if that proves to be impossible, we all stand ready to do whatever we can to help preserve opera in a new form for San Diego.”
Stephen Colbert May Be A Worthy Successor To Letterman, But ‘Stephen Colbert’ Was One Of TV’s Greatest Characters Ever (Seriously)
“The Colbert Report was more than just a late-night show. The Colbert Report was also the type of character study that had never been seen or attempted before. … 150 nights a year, Colbert defined the character slowly but surely, segment by segment.”
Mary Cheever Dead At 95
An author and poet in her own right, she was “a central figure in a family of prominent American writers whose most notable member was her husband, John, with whom she had a relationship as complex as those he wrote about.”
The Word That Won Scrabble’s New-Word Contest Is Superfluous In Scrabble
Not only that, argues Stefan Fatsis, but the contest was won by the equivalent of ballot-stuffing.
SFMoMA To Open Largest Photography Exhibition Space In U.S.
“The John and Lisa Pritzker Center for Photography will feature more than 15,500 square feet of space and will almost triple the current amount of space for photography at the museum, according to the museum. The center will be located on the third floor of the museum when it reopens in 2016 after extensive renovations.”
At Last Minute, ‘A Night With Janis Joplin’ Cancels Off-Broadway Transfer
“The production, built around Mary Bridget Davies’s uncanny channeling of the 1960s diva’s spirit and sound, was to begin performances at the Gramercy Theater, following a short Broadway run that generated a fervent fan base.” But on Wednesday producers postponed the opening indefinitely due to what they called “production issues”.
Can We Really Learn To Control Our Own Dreams?
Lucid dreaming is real, and likely more people do it than you (or they) might think.
Remember That Papyrus That Said Jesus Has A Wife? Well, It’s Not A Fake
“A faded fragment of papyrus known as the ‘Gospel of Jesus’s Wife,’ which caused an uproar when unveiled by a Harvard Divinity School historian in 2012, has been tested by scientists who conclude in a journal published on Thursday that the ink and papyrus are very likely ancient, and not a modern forgery.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 04.10.14
Moonlighting in the Arts, and Indie Bookstores
AJBlog: CultureCrash | Published 2014-04-10
Does Britain’s new Minister for Culture like opera?
AJBlog: Plain English | Published 2014-04-10
12th Century Manuscript Mystery
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts | Published 2014-04-10
Old violins vs new: the full video and scientific paper
AJBlog: Slipped Disc | Published 2014-04-10
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Nobel Foundation Announces Architect And Plans To Build A Home
“The building, to be known as the Nobelhuset, will be sited on Stockholm’s Blasieholmen, next to the Swedish National Museum, in the centre of the city. The design is a spare, glass block, its façades defined by slender brass mullions that give it a glistening, golden sheen intended to look particularly striking in the northern light.”
Finalists For Literature’s Richest Prize Announced
It’s the 100,000-Euro Impac Dublin Literary Prize. The 10 shortlisted books were nominated by libraries in 39 countries – including Australia, Germany, Ireland, Mexico and South Africa.
Egypt’s Serious Art Looting Problem
For decades, archaeologist Monica Hanna says, average Egyptians “believed the heritage belonged to the state, to tourists, not to the people.” As a result, she said, youth are easily persuaded by their elders to help plunder cemeteries and religious sites in a fashion that recalls the thievery in Dickens’ “Oliver Twist.”
The Problems Of Political Theatre In India
“Theatre played an integral role in India’s freedom struggle – what purpose does it serve in the country today? With elections now under way, two playwrights reflect on censorship, audience expectations and the new voices seeking to be heard.”