“For example, the TSO introduced online chat functionality to its website, enabling patrons to receive real-time customer support in both official languages as well as other languages including Mandarin. Its first week in operation produced more than 200 chat sessions.”
The Weird, Brilliant Names Charles Dickens Invented For His Minor Characters
“Allow me to introduce Mr Plornishmaroontigoonter. Lord Podsnap, Count Smorltork, and Sir Clupkins Clogwog. Not to mention the dowager Lady Snuphanuph. As for Serjeant Buzfuz, Miss Snevellicci, Mrs. Wrymug, and the Porkenhams … They are the best of names, they are the worst of names, from an age of onomastic wisdom and hypocoristic foolishness, an epoch of … well you get the picture.”
Iranian Cartoonist Freed After More Than A Year In Prison
“Atena Farghadani, who was sentenced to 12 years and nine months in prison last June for … depicting Iranian parliamentarians as monkeys and goats in protest against two bills that will outlaw voluntary sterilisation and restrict access to contraception,” was released on May 3.
Seems We Just Can’t Get Enough Of The Tudors – Why Is That?
Charlotte Higgins: “When speaking to historians, novelists and curators of the period, I found that they would, at some point in the conversation, reach for a pop-cultural analogy. The Tudors are like the Kardashians, said one. They are like the Caesars, or the Kennedys, said another. They are like Game of Thrones, said one. They are like House of Cards, said another. They are like Dallas, they are like Dynasty, said another.”
Why Friendship Is Not A Moral Good
Humanities scholar Alexander Nehamas: “The major point is that morality is supposed to be impartial and universal. … Contrary to morality, friendship is a kind of value that is absolutely partial and preferential. In other words, it’s essential that I treat my friends differently from the way I treat everyone else. I will do favors for you and I will help you in ways that I will feel absolutely no obligation to do for someone else. And that doesn’t fit with our conception of morality, which says you should treat everyone the same.”
The Hottest Thing In ‘Slow Radio’ Is Orchestra Musicians Playing Outside, With Birds
“A group of musicians will venture into the Sussex woods to make music with nightingales, while Radio 3 breakfast show listeners will be introduced to a new bird’s song each weekend, paired with a piece of music.”
How He Does It: Watch An MRI Of This Opera Singer Singing Wagner
While performing with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, German baritone Michael Volle impressively sang the Wagner aria “Song to the Evening Star” from Tannhäuser while undergoing a MRI scan.
“They” As The New All-Purpose Sexless Pronoun. How About It?
I think “they” is the way to proceed as a default, until English is spoken in a world where the inherent power disparity between the “hes” and “shes” is eradicated. I know it won’t happen in my lifetime, but as long as we continue to use a language that is inherently sexist, we will be forever perpetuating sexist ideology, even without intending to. I still do not know how to talk about this without inspiring fights – but it is an important one.
Even Europe’s Most August Theatre Is Joining The Cinemacasters
No less than the home of Molière, Racine, and Voltaire, the Comédie-Française will be transmitting its performances to moviegoers, beginning in October, with three productions presented in 300 cinemas in France, Belgium, and Switzerland. The broadcasts will subsequently be offered to the rest of the world in subtitled versions. (in French; Google Translate version here)
The Artist’s Way In The Swamp Of Corporate Creativity
When Julia Cameron published “The Artist’s Way,” in 1991, she probably could not have foreseen exactly how the very idea of creativity would collide with the marketplace. “Creative” sits right above “innovation” and “disruption” in the glossary of terms that have been co-opted by corporate America and retooled to signify an increasingly nebulous set of qualities.
UK Theatre Industry Survey: Top Concern Is Arts Education
Across the board, the topic of arts education demonstrated the most acute concern from respondents, scoring an average of 2.24. The deepest pessimism came from respondents in Yorkshire and Northern Ireland. Most respondents (84%) were more negative than positive about the prospects for arts opportunities in schools over the next 10 years, with one in three declaring they were deeply pessimistic about the future.
Groundbreaking: How Misty Copeland Changed Ballet
“We’re right to view Copeland’s rise with awe, gratitude, and hope, but it’s also interesting to note that two of the the ceilings she’s breaking (by being a ballerina with breasts and muscles) have only recently been installed. It reminds me how quickly a newly introduced expectation can feel timeless; how strongly it can ossify into something that seems inevitable; how easily we accept that what we see in front of us is universal.”
Cautionary Tale: What Happens When Your Dance Video Really Goes Viral
“I watched, fascinated, as it got picked up and spread by Huffington Post, BuzzFeed, Perez Hilton: 50 million views, 200 million, 300 million views on each site. Then it started getting posted by less famous sources, and I noticed my name was no longer on it, but advertisements were. I was soon contacted by a licensing company.”
Privatising UK’s Channel Four Would Be A Very Bad Idea, Says Study
“The 74-page report argues that the impact of selling off Channel 4 would be ‘overwhelmingly negative’ for the UK economy, the broadcasting industry and creative industries.”
Fire At Artist’s House Ruins $34 Million Worth Of Art
“The flames engulfed the artist’s personal collection, including one work by Andy Warhol, and some of her own sculptural works, which were stored in the basement.”
Conductor Retires After 63 Years With His Orchestra
Steve Lopez: “Alvin Mills is 94. Two conductor’s batons rest on the tray of his walker, within arm’s reach. He might drop or misplace one – you never know – and it’s good to have a backup.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 05.04.16
Looking Back at Cuba
So much is being made of the U.S.-Cuba rapprochement and the arrival in Havana of cruise ships filled with tourists that I took a look at an old series of mine, part reportage and part … read more
AJBlog: Straight|Up Published 2016-05-04
Looking Back at Cuba (continued)
Now you can fly to Havana direct from the U.S. without having to be part of a licensed group. You can even use credit cards in places equipped to handle them. Of course… … read more
AJBlog: Straight|Up Published 2016-05-04
Weekend Listening: Bill Holman & The SRJO
Just three weeks after Bill Holman conducted the Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra in three concerts of his works, this Sunday Jim Wilke’s Jazz Northwest will broadcast portions of the final concert. Here are details … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2016-05-04
The Most Under-Rated Composer?
Who is the most under-rated 20th century American composer? … read more
AJBlog: Unanswered Question Published 2016-05-04
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Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum Has Plans To Monetize Its Expertise
Under the program, museum employees will provide advice and support in areas such as collection conservation and preservation, installation of climate control systems, museum management, and the development of educational programs.
Daniel Aaron, Co-Founder Of Library Of America, Dead At 103
“He helped found the Library of America in 1979, the culmination of a proposal by his fellow critic Edmund Wilson in the 1950s. The company has published 9.5 million copies of 279 moderately priced novels, memoirs, narrative histories, forgotten masterpieces and other classics.” In addition, he pioneered the academic discipline of American studies.
Okay, Aside From ‘Hamilton’, Where’s The Action In The Tony Awards Going To Be?
Three New York Times theater writers talk about where the races will be, the omissions (where’s Audra?), and whether there are any categories in which Hamilton could be defeated (maybe).
Here’s An Arts Program For Inner-City Students That Really Seems To Be Working
“Oblivious to the grim surroundings, young artists are hard at work inside the building, Suitland High School. Those artists are eager participants in a rigorous, four-year academic and arts program that has survived budget cuts, neighborhood violence and a constant shortage of art supplies.”
Homeless Civil War Museum Just Gives Its Collection Away
“The homeless Civil War Museum of Philadelphia, steward of what scholars regard as one of the finest collections of Civil War materials anywhere but possessing no place to display them, reached an agreement Monday to transfer ownership of its roughly 3,000 artifacts to the Gettysburg Foundation, the private, nonprofit partner of the National Park Service.”
Turns Out Lincoln Center’s President Did Not, In Fact, Resign To Go Back To Producing Theater
“The surprising departure of Jed Bernstein last month after just 27 months as president of Lincoln Center was prompted not by a change in career plans, as announced, but by the discovery that he” – well, he did one of those things chief executives tend to lose their jobs for doing.